Snake in the Grass
by Sumi-Sprite
Summary: FILL for the RotG KINKmeme - Summers are probably Pitch's most despised season, if only because of the heat. But then again, it's also the season in which he gets to 'change things up' a bit. Too bad he never counted on others finding out, particularly a certain Tooth Fairy. Cavity pairing, Tooth/Naga!Pitch.
1. Chapter 1

**Snake in the Grass.**

Ch. 1

_A/N~ Hey all! This is a prompt fill from DreamWidth's RotG KINK meme. I hope you enjoy! For a link to the prompt itself, you can find it on my profile! _

This is _**Cavity**_ slash.

Genre: Humor, romance.

Chara(s): Pitch Black, Toothiana, other Guardians

Pairing(s): Tooth/Pitch.

Enjoy!

~S~

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

Pitch hated heat…

Actually, scratch that. Pitch didn't hate the heat, he hated the season that brought the damn heat!

Summer was, without a doubt, his most despised season of the year. Granted he found reasons to dislike all four seasons, but summer was at the top of the list for two reasons. One was the complete plummet in fear. Sure there were places where people feared heat stroke, brush fires, being separated from mommy and daddy at the theme park, et cetera. Sure it was fear, but compared to other things, it was barely enough to feed a rat shaped Nightmare. He could handle that though, no problem, conditions change. It was the second reason he hated summer with a passion that was putting him in a sour mood.

Case in point, this _god damn heat!_

'_What is this, a heat wave?'_ he thought, slumping back onto the black couch dominating his personal library.

Normally Pitch was rather adaptive around harsh temperatures, both cold and hot. But it seemed Pitch's body was more built at resistance to the cold, if his last visit to Antarctica was anything to go by. His caverns were almost always cool and damp, just how he liked it. But once summer rolled around, the moisture of his lair would start to evaporate, and the heat from the surface would seep into the ground and into his lair. Thus transforming his once comfortably chilly caverns into an endlessly humid sauna. It was _disgusting…_

His wardrobe probably didn't help much either. His robes may be lightweight, but it seems the color was a very nice heat absorbent. Joy…

Pitch sighed and wiped the sweat collecting on his forehead, his golden gaze locked onto some unknown point of the ceiling. A sudden thought occurred to him, all of which seeme dot send a tingle of – dare he say it – giddiness through his body. Well, he supposed he shouldn't complain too much. He supposed he just enjoyed his personal pity-parties.

A grin spread over his ashen face.

Okay, so maybe he didn't hate summer as much as he says he does. It was during this time of the year (not counting some parts of spring) that he got to indulge in one of his more…unique abilities.

'_Well, no need to prolong the inevitable.' _he thought with a smirk.

Sitting up, he took a moment to survey his surroundings, as if trying to see if anyone else was around. His ears perked slightly as he tuned into any noises around him; silence. Perfect.

Lying back down onto the couch, Pitch shut his eyes and sighed. Mentally reaching into his core, he 'gripped' a small chunk of his magic and guided it into his center. Once he felt the familiar sensation of what he could describe as a warm ball of buzzing energy collect in his upper abdomen, he pressed his slender legs together and forced the ball of energy _down_.

It was slow at first; it always started out slow, but it eventually picked up in speed as the sensation traveled down past his belly and down into his pelvis. It was a strange sensation, granted, and at first alarming when he first started getting into his little guilty-pleasure, but it was thankfully brief.

He felt the hem of his robes seem to come alive and wrap tightly around his legs, immobilizing him. But he did not move; instead, he focused his concentration back on the ball of energy and let his mental grip on it release. It 'dropped' into the bowl of his pelvis, causing an electrical sensation, like two atoms crashing into each other, to travel down into his suddenly numb legs.

A shudder raced up and down his suddenly tingling spine like a Jacob's Ladder. The energy pressed down harder before it seemed to burst and spread like scalding hot water down, down his legs and into his toes. Pitch immediately felt the very familiar sensation of muscles in his back and legs quivering not unpleasantly, like he was stretching from a fitful nap. Pitch would never admit it, but the transformation itself was a rather sensational experience, and not at all unpleasant if he was honest with himself. Which he rarely was.

A shaky sigh left black lips as the stretching sensation seemed to elongate and continue out past the length of his body. It felt as if he was feeling sensations outside his body, and it was slowly becoming more and more noticeable. And all of it was felt below his waist.

First it was the velvety brush of the arm of the couch. Then came the sensation of sliding along the cool stone floor. Pitch paid no mind to the few sensations of what he could compare as to stubbing his toe on the few pieces of furniture in the room. The pain wasn't nearly as sharp. If anything it was like feeling a fly going on a head on collision for him while he was in full body armor.

Completely ignoring the sounds of small tables overturning, books flopping to the ground, and the occasional chair tipping over, Pitch became oblivious to the world as he floated in his transformation induced trance.

What felt like hours passed, but it had only been less than a few minutes. And once he felt the pressure of the ball of shrinking energy in his pelvis vanish, it was over…

And instant _relief_ washed over Pitch as the once unbearably prominent heat all but vanished from the atmosphere. He suddenly felt like he was in a very comfortably warm and humid island the humans were so fond of vacationing to.

Pitch opened his eyes back up, vaguely noting how some of the remnants of the magic once pressing into his pelvis moved up into his chest and throat. Licking his lips (and completely unalarmed by the sudden elongation of the now forked muscle) Pitch pushed himself up to rest on his elbows and look down at his new form.

If there was one thing Pitch could appreciate, it would be the art of perfection. And really, he saw nothing but perfection in his new form.

Silky black scales completely enveloped what was once a pair of gaunt legs, accented by gem-like shards of blue and purple scales trailing along his flank. His serpentine tail was _at least_ twelve feet long, give or take half the width of the room. But it didn't matter too much if the new body was too long or too short; a simple mental command and Pitch could make his tail as long or as short as he wanted.

Chuckling deviously to himself, Pitch set to work reacquainting himself to his new form. It was shaky and a bit awkward at first; he only ever took this form for a few months once or twice a year. But after a couple laps slinking around his library, he felt he got the motions back down and adjusted to the new muscles rippling through his tail. Once assured his form was stable, he slithered out of his library and to his bedchambers. Before he could indulge himself in his new form, he had to check and see if all was in order and he didn't suddenly sprout any abnormalities. He shuddered at the thought. The first time he had tried this new form, he had somehow ended up with feathers instead of scales. The second time around he got the scales right, but somehow sprouted gills and fins. He could now to this day say to someone with a straight face that he nearly drowned without being anywhere near water…

The Nightmare King slunk over to the wall length mirror next to his wardrobe. Turning this way and that, and putting many self-conscious models to shame with his nit-picking, Pitch smirked at the lack of flaws on his form. But he frowned slightly at one tiny problem, nearly pouting at his reflection. That would never do. The shapeless thing may show off his chest nicely, but it only seemed to distort his lovely obsidian scales!

"Hmph…" huffing, Pitch shed his robe and tossed it carelessly onto the floor, "Much better."

Pitch would, without a doubt, be the first to admit he was a vain bastard. And he had no qualms about this. He knew he was good looking in his own way, and he was quite comfortable with his body, if that wasn't all too obvious; but come on, with collarbones and a neck like his, who was he to hide them from the world? Sure he was on the thin side, but his body was toned and firm. Though he did at times wish some of his bones weren't so prominent, particularly in the hips and ribs, but he didn't complain.

His original form was one thing, but this, his Naga form he liked to call it, was a true work of art.

The King of Fear posed shamelessly in his mirror, taking on various poses, all none too suggestive. Pitch took pride in his serpentine form for various reasons; one such reason was actually a direct link to his work. Ophidiophobia was a very common fear among humans, and there were so many superstitions circling around snakes themselves that prompted humans into fearing them. Pitch considered it one of his smaller weaknesses; he always held a soft spot for creepy crawly things. Though he would never fully understand how humans could hate things like snakes or other such creatures. Serpents were such lovely creatures, not to mention vital to most ecosystems. Without them, fear of spiders and snakes would be replaced with fears of mice and rats. Not a very glamorous fear all things considered…

Well, no use dwelling on the ifs and ands. Pitch had a full season of self-pampering to get to work on. Not to mention how much delicious fear he can get out of the skittish mortals in his current form.

Eh, maybe he didn't hate summer as much as he thought. If anything, maybe it was just as much a vacation season as it was to the humans…

To be continued…

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

_A/N~ I cannot describe how much better I feel about this now that I've edited all the spelling errors and crap. Granted, I'm still not fully satisfied with how this is coming along, but then again, I have only ever felt 'satisfied' a handful of times with my work. Eh, whatevs, enjoy!_

_~S~_


	2. Chapter 2

**Snake in the Grass.**

Ch. 2

_A/N~ Hmmm…nope. Got nothing to add to this A/N. The hell? XD_

This is _**Cavity**_ slash.

Genre: Humor, romance.

Chara(s): Pitch Black, Toothiana, other Guardians

Pairing(s): Tooth/Pitch.

Enjoy!

~S~

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

Toothiana was known to be many things to those who knew her.

She was brave, bold, kind, dedicated to her work, gentle, yet firm, and an overall good person. She was also very bubbly, chipper, talkative, and so full of seemingly endless energy. A few people found this part of her somewhat annoying, if not overwhelming. But most found it quite charming.

But despite all of the crashing and swirling energy inside her, she was very well organized and very professional in her work.

Which is why she was currently throwing a mental hissy fit over a teeny, tiny problem she just now seemed to notice…

'_How can I be missing a tooth!?'_ she screamed mentally to herself.

The colorful fairy sat in her personal quarters in her plush nest of silk blankets and cushions. In her hands she held a gold and jewel gilded box, all of which was open. To some, this wasn't an uncommon occurrence. Tooth loved personally going back and handling teeth whenever she was feeling stressed or down. North once commented that it was like the equivalent to those stress balls humans used whenever they were feeling haggard at the office.

But for once, this wasn't a way to relieve stress or anxiety. Rather, the box was what was _causing_ the stress.

Or rather, it was the empty slot where a Lateral Incisor should be. Use to be.

Honestly, Tooth wanted to laugh at this. Toothiana, the _Tooth Fairy,_ has _lost_ a _tooth!_ It was _laughable!_

'_So why am I not laughing?'_ she thought miserably.

Sighing, she closed the golden cylinder, her wings twitching before coming to rest limply against her back. This was a mess, she thought. To anyone else, it would have been no big deal; it was just one tooth. But to her, it was more precious than any gem, not just to her, but to the child it once belonged to. Every tooth held precious memories. Losing just one tooth was like losing a large chunk of one's past. It was an incomplete set, a puzzle missing one precious piece.

Toothiana had never lost a tooth before. At least not like this; there were the few occasions where her fairies might run into trouble – maybe a cat or some other predator animal – and would either have to run without their cargo, or come back for it later. Tooth never blamed them for such actions. Cats were especially nasty to them, but even still, they always got their job done and completed their tasks.

But this, this was a first. Tooth never lost something so precious so suddenly. Not since Pitch tried to-

Amethyst eyes widened. Her dainty hands slackened suddenly, causing the gold box to drop down into her lap as horrible realization dawned on her.

The tooth had been left in Pitch's lair…

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

Contrary to what most might think, Pitch was very adamant at keeping himself clean and well groomed.

Many wouldn't assume so; his teeth were a pretty prominent hint to others that he didn't much care of personal hygiene. But this was not the case.

Actually, his teeth were actually quite normal. He just liked to use his natural ability of illusion to give him a more subtly unnerving appearance. After all, who would be frightened of someone with a perfectly kept appearance? It was practically a requirement for him to appear as grotesque as possible; or at least as much as his vanity would allow.

Though right now he didn't worry too much about that. Now, he was going to enjoy his preening and laze about.

"Ah, lower…" he sighed.

Currently the Nightmare King was, quite literally, sprawled out on his back over the majority of the globe room. His torso was actually draped over the hollow globe itself, while the rest of his serpentine form loosely coiled around its base and spread out around the plateau.

And just along the center of his tail was a small battalion of small Fearlings, all armed with soft rags and flasks of clear, oily liquid. All of which was being firmly rubbed into the obsidian scales until they gleamed with a crystalline shine, while another one hovered just above his head with a bowl of various fruits.

Pitch practically purred from the attention. Even after a rather tedious defeat not too long ago, he was entitled to a bit of self-spoiling. It was better than moping around in self-pity. Plus the Fearlings made excellent servants and scale-polishers. It made the polishing go faster too, and no sore hands.

But best of all was the peace and quiet. No harassing Nightmares, no annoying mini-fairies, and best of all, no upstart Guardians.

'_Now if only I had someone to hold a decent conversation with…'_ he thought with a sigh.

Pitch would be lying if he said he wasn't lonely. He's spent billions of years isolated, not counting the Nightmare Men and Fearlings. But they didn't much count to begin with. They were all practically illiterate unless they were whispering promises of fear and doubt. Plus, neither made great opponents in chess; they were more keen on _eating_ the pieces than doing anything else with them. Pitch never did get that Rook back…

'_Then again, who in their right mind would want to be around someone who takes such a form?'_ he thought.

With a huff, he let his mouth open, his forked tongue stretching over his chin as the Fearling over his head lowered some grapes into his fanged maw.

Oh well. Who needed companionship when he could spend a whole summer being waited on hand and tail?

Pitch's relaxed state was cut short by a deep snort. Cracking an eye open, he frowned over at the Nigthmare gazing up at him expectantly, its willowy mane waving in a nonexistent breeze.

A bit upset for having his relaxation time interrupted, Pitch dismissed his Fearlings and flopped over onto his stomach, resting his chin on his folded arms.

"What is it?" he hissed, a very slight lisp added to the 'S' of his words.

The Nigthmare snorted and shook its head, nickering to Pitch and clopping a hoof. Pitch's frown deepened as the mental communication between him and his Nightmare became a bit frantic. It was if the sandy horse was frantic in its 'speech'.

"Slow down…" he crooned, reaching out to pet the Nigthmare's neck, "Easy girl, tell me what's wrong."

While the Nightmare regained its bearings, Pitch was mentally marking off what could possibly be wrong. There couldn't be an intruder in his lair, he would have sensed it. The Fearlings weren't causing any trouble, and the Nightmares weren't becoming restless and turning on one another. As far as Pitch could tell, everything was perfectly in order.

"What is it?" he tried again, patience wearing thin.

Huffing with a grunt, the Nightmare turned tail and trotted down a tunnel. Pitch watched after it for a few moments before it came back. Its jaw was set oddly, like it had something in its mouth. And it seemed much more restless than it was before.

"What's the matter little mare?" he smirked, "Got a tooth ache?"

The Nightmare gave the impression of being insulted before craning its neck and nodding its head frantically, but not in a sense of confirmation. It instead nudged Pitch's arm firmly before shaking its head again. Pitch cocked his head curiously before hesitantly holding his hand out to the Nightmare. The Nightmare snorted and opened its mouth, depositing something into Pitch's ashen hand.

Now thoroughly intrigued, Pitch brought his hand up to his face to examine what his Nightmare had brought him. He at first thought it was a pebble, but upon further inspection, he found it was not something as simple as a pebble. It was white, smooth, and had a slight shine to it. Nothing came to mind at first, but a beat later, the answer hit him like a truck.

It was a tooth.

A baby tooth to be precise. But what in the world was it doing in his lair? His Fearlings weren't suddenly taking an interest in them were they?

"Moon, I hope not…" Pitch muttered, turning the tooth over in his hand.

It certainly wasn't his, it was too small. And his Fearlings and Nightmares didn't even have teeth. The only explanation he could come up with was that it somehow got left behind when Toothiana retrieved the tooth boxes.

"How unfortunate…" Pitch purred, rolling the tooth around in his palm. He contemplated on what he should do with it.

Taking it back to her was out of the question. He didn't feel like having any of his lovely fangs knocked out, thank you. Though it was tempting; he could only imagine her and her mini fairy's reactions to his serpentine form. It would have been delicious.

But he digressed. There wasn't anything he could do with it, and he wasn't about to return it of his own free will. Though he had to wonder what the chances were of Toothiana or one of her mini fairies coming down to retrieve it.

Frowning at the ivory item in his palm and tongue flicking, Pitch held it out to his Nightmare.

"Place it close to the entrance," he said, "Make sure it will be easy to spot should someone come down."

Snorting, the Nightmare obeyed the order and, though hesitantly, took the calcium enamel between its lips and trotted off for the main entrance to Pitch's lair.

Nodding to himself, Pitch flopped back over onto his back, his torso bent in a gentle arch over the round shape of the globe. Better safe than sorry, he thought. If someone did come looking for that tooth, they would find it and get it back before they could venture too far into his home. And even if someone did come down…well, he can only conclude Tooth's fairies feared snakes as much as cats…

Pitch averted his gaze to the Fearlings floating in the corner and bore his fangs.

"What are you lot standing around for? Get back to work!" he snapped.

The Fearlings squeaked in surprise before they bolted back over to Pitch, armed with their rags and flasks, and got back to polishing his scales to a gossamer shine. Pitch sighed deeply as his tense muscles unwound. A peeled orange wedge was held out for him, and Pitch couldn't help but grimace.

He had to wonder just what the other Guardians would think if they saw him like this, and enjoying it. As if they didn't think was disgustingly revolting enough, the last thing he needed was for them to openly mock him about his method of surviving a damn heat wave. Pitch loathed uninvited guests. Maybe he should have that tooth returned…

_After_ he was done with his scale polishing.

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

_A/N~ Uuuhhh…nope, still got nothing. *shot* but anyways! Hope you still enjoy this! Next up, Tooth tries to retrieve the missing tooth, but instead she stumbles upon something sensual…_

_~S~_


	3. Chapter 3

**Snake in the Grass. **

Ch. 3

_A/N~ Yeesh, all these delays. Well hopefully this double-ipdate redeems me! _

Pairing: Naga!Pitch/Tooth (Cavity)

Genre: Humor, romance.

Rating: T (for swearing and minor sexual content)

Enjoy!

_~S~_

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

Toothiana stared down at the hole in the ground leading to a certain Nightmare King's lair, her hands tightening on the hilts of her twin swords.

Hesitation was obviously visible on her face, but also a very vague sense of uncertainty. Beside her, Baby Tooth fidgeted with nervous chips, her crest feathers twitching with her nerves. The two avian fairies had been hovering near the reopened hole for the better part of ten minutes, all of which was spent trying to sort the uncertainty out of their minds. Their nerves were tingling, giving the sensation of bugs crawling under one's skin. It was not at all a comforting sensation, nor was it helping in Toothiana's dilemma.

The iridescent fairy let out a calming breath, "Okay, I just need to get in, and get out. Who knows? He might not even be down there anymore…"

Baby Tooth gave her a slightly scrutinizing look with a raised brow, almost giving the impression of an unimpressed teenager. Normally Tooth would reprimand such attitude, but even she knew her words were more a means of self-comfort, if not full denial.

Because as much as Tooth wouldn't admit it, Pitch frightened her. Sure, she had a few moments of courage where she was able to get up in his face – and knock a tooth out of his mouth – but moments like those only happened when her emotions were on high, or if he was threatening someone.

The fairy winced slightly at the memory of a certain right hook she swung at the Boogeyman. Despite the fact he deserved it, Tooth wasn't exactly one who took pleasure out of harming someone who was essentially powerless. Case in point, during Pitch's defeat and when she knocked that tooth out. She didn't exactly regret it, but she wasn't _proud_ of her actions then…

Tooth sighed, smoothing her crest down. Now was not the time to be stalling; she had to get that tooth back! And she wasn't going to get it by floating around reminiscing! If anything, she had to hurry; she couldn't leave her fairies unattended for much longer. She had to act _now_.

"Baby Tooth," she started, catching her helper's attention, "I want you to stay up here alright? If I'm not back in ten minutes, fifteen tops, I want you to get the others, alright?"

Baby Tooth frowned, chirping a protest to her queen. Tooth smiled and shook her head, cupping her hands under the mini fairy.

"I know you want to help, but if we're both captured or worse, the others won't be able to help," she said, "I need you to be brave and wait for me."

A dainty finger stroked the mini fairy's yellow crest. Any protests Baby Tooth was about to voice instantly died down at the gentle touch and encouraging smile. Despite how stubborn Baby Tooth was, Toothiana was just as, if not more, stubborn.

Giving a high pitched sigh, Baby Tooth begrudgingly nodded, but chirped firmly at her queen with various hand gestures. Toothiana laughed lightly.

"Alright, alright, I promise!" She laughed, petting her feisty helper's head, "Now just wait here for me okay? And when I come back, I'll treat you to some nectar juice."

More chirping.

"Yes, you can get extra sugar in it, but _only_ a little!" Tooth said firmly.

Clapping her tiny hands in delight, Baby Tooth fluttered over to a low-hanging branch. She gave a salute to her queen before settling at her 'post'. Tooth chuckled at her feisty helper before turning back to the hole leading down into the proverbial dragon's den. A shudder ran up her spine, causing her wings to twitch unsteadily.

She took in a deep breath, as if she was about to submerge into a body of water, and dove down into the dark tunnel.

The tunnel was narrow and black as ink. Not a single speck of light penetrated the black stained atmosphere. Tooth was starting to wonder if there even was a bottom to the tunnel, or if Pitch's lair was still even there. The thought made her inwardly cringe. If the lair was in fact gone, so was the tooth she desperately wanted to retrieve. Yet another part of her was also a bit…concerned?

Tooth blinked but didn't stop in her trek. Why would she be concerned? And for who? Pitch?

The fairy had the unsightly urge to slap herself. What was this? Why was she suddenly concerned for the spirit who came so very close to wiping her, and her fellow Guardians, out of existence? The very same man who kidnapped her fairies and stole the teeth. It was _baffling!_

Just as the iridescent fairy was about to hightail it back to the surface to have her mental health checked, a faint, washed out glow caught her eye.

Fluttering hesitantly closer, Tooth was able to make out the wall that formed a right turn into what she hoped was Pitch's lair.

She pressed close to the wall and hovered over to the corner, one hand on the hilt of her sabre as she peeked around the corner.

She stared into what looked like a large foyer, various wrought iron cages hanging from the seemingly endless ceiling. The cavern itself was surprisingly warm and humid. Though after looking over a ledge into the abyss, Tooth could see why. Everything below the first level was completely submerged in crystalline black water in various pools and lakes, not unlike her own various water springs below her palace. Though her springs looked more appealing and – was that a tentacle she just saw!?

'_Dear Moon, what am I doing?'_ she thought, her whole body shuddering.

Tooth shook her head, her feathers ruffling in frustration. Now was not the time to be getting cold feet. She was in the lair of _The King of Fear_ for MiM's sake, she didn't need to have her presence announced like mariachi band because the creep of a resident would sniff out her fear like a bloodhound.

Once again taking in a deep, head-clearing breath, and relaxed. She made a mental note to thank Sandy for those meditation lessons. They didn't seem to work on her 'chattiness', but they seemed to work on quelling her nerves. Who knew?

"Okay…just take a quick look around, find the tooth, grab it, get out," she said, "Easy. Easy, easy, easy…"

Or so she kept telling herself.

Under most other circumstances, Tooth could easily find a lost tooth in no time flat. But only _if_ the tooth was not already exchanged by either her or one of her fairies. As a collector of teeth, she had a natural ability to know when one was lost and under a child's pillow waiting to be picked up. Those teeth practically lit up like beacons to her. But once a tooth was exchanged under her watch, the beacon went out, and she would not be able to track it anymore. She could sense the memories stored in them and use that, but it was not as efficient as when the tooth itself was freshly lost and left under a pillow.

And as if that wasn't bad enough, she couldn't sense the tooth down there. It was like the aura she would follow was being…suppressed. Like the stone walls were alive and devouring her light and power. Was this what her fairies felt when pitch trapped them down here? It was awful!

Tooth spent the next ten minutes searching fruitlessly for the lost tooth. Any and all pity she once felt for Pitch had dropped off the face of the planet at the fifteen minute mark.

And by the twenty minute mark, Tooth found herself digging through some rubble near the entrance of the lair. And by this point, it seemed she was more likely to find a few diamonds than a calcium enamel.

Twenty five minute mark, and Tooth wanted to rip her feathers out.

This was _ridiculous!_ It should _not_ be this hard to find a bloody damn tooth! She was the Moon damned _Tooth Fairy_ for crying out loud! She _specialized_ in lost teeth…!

"Whoever it was that I pissed off, I'm sorry! I really am! So can you please just lift this curse off of me and let me find that tooth? Pretty please?" she begged to no one in particular.

…she was talking to thin air. In Pitch's lair. Alone.

'_No wonder he went mad…'_ she thought, _'This place does things to your head.'_

Crick!

Body jolting and feathers fluffing, Tooth swung around with his sabers out and ready to attack-

…a rat?

"Oh…" she sighed in disappointment, trying to calm her frantic heartbeat.

The rat twitched its gnarled, hairy nose at her as she settled on a rock, completely fed up with the whole situation. The rat cocked its matted furry head at her. The fairy sighed.

"You know, at any other time, I would maybe be off exploring this place, and maybe trying to see if Pitch was around…" she started, "Who knows? Maybe he's learnt his lesson this time! But I already know that's probably never going to happen. The guy has an ego the size of a Megaladon tooth, and don't even get me started on how stubborn he is…"

A bald grey-pink tail twitched as beady black eyes stared at her. Another sigh and Tooth put her chin in one hand.

"Maybe I need a break. Heaven knows the others are constantly on my tail about it, especially Sandy, the little hypocrite…" he laughed ruefully, looking at the rat, "But it's sweet at least, maybe I should just-"

A pause.

Amethyst eyes stared at the rat, more specifically, at its buck teeth. Or what she had _thought_ was its buck teeth.

But it couldn't have been its own teeth. It was too white, and it was too small. It wasn't even two narrow, overly grown teeth, but a single, smooth, _baby tooth._

Tooth's once exhausted senses were now back on high alert. She could feel a faint, yet prominent, aura emitting from the enamel. Which immediately confirmed her suspicions. _That_ was the lost tooth she had come to retrieve.

"Um…" she started, putting on a nervously sweet smile as she knelt down to the rat, "Excuse me little guy, but could I possibly have that tooth in your mouth?"

A blink of beady eyes and a twitching of whiskers. The rat didn't seem to understand a word she was saying. But still, the fairy kept prattling on.

"See, that tooth was lost a long time ago – it's actually the reason I'm even down here to begin with," she said, "And I maybe, kind of, sort of, _really_ need it back."

The rat seemed to cock a brow at her, as if to say 'oh really?' to her. Tooth scooted closer to it, and the rat backed up, its fur starting to bristle suspiciously. Laughing nervously, Tooth held up her hands.

"N-no, no! None of that! I'm the Tooth Fairy you see, and it's kind of a job requirement that I retrieve all lost teeth that have already been exchanged, understand? Oh! Maybe you've met some of my workers from the European division? I'm sure they've mentioned me at least once!"

The rat seemed to frown deeply, its nose twitching suspiciously at the iridescent woman.

"So yeah, I kind of need that tooth back so I can have it put back in its proper place to give its former owner a complete set of memories," the fairy concluded cheerfully, "So, what do you say?"

Silence. An awkward pause. Staring…

…

The rat bolted.

"Hey! Wait a minute you-!" and Tooth was off and flying like the lovechild of a bullet trail and a sniper rifle.

The rat managed to avoid her grasping hands and eluded her through various crevasses, cracks, and rocks. It squeaked loudly in protest whenever her dainty fingers managed to graze its fur or tail, but were unable to seize it.

"Hey wait! I said get back here!" Tooth shouted as the dirty creature led her through tunnels and various corridors.

Up, down, left, right, it was like a chaotic rollercoaster spawned from the worst thriller junkie's mind. And still the rat persisted in keeping the tooth in its jaws and elude the increasingly frustrated fairy in a game of cat and mouse. Deeper and deeper into the lair the two ventured, and when it was becoming apparent she was about to lose all sources of light, Tooth snapped.

"Get your skinny tail back here or so help me, I will yank out those buck teeth of yours with a rusty-!"

She never saw the stalagmite coming.

At least, not until it connected to her forehead and sent her careening onto the ground. _Painfully_.

The fairy crashed in an indignant heap on the hard stone floor with a resounding 'thud'. The rat vanished down a hallway ahead of her, but not after throwing – Tooth to this day would swear was a smug look – one last glance over its hairy shoulder and skittering away.

Tooth did not move from her face-down position on the harsh stone floor. In fact, she so far had _no_ plans to move whatsoever.

'_That's it. I give up. I fucking give up…'_ she thought, glaring holes into the floor.

No, she was just going to lie there until the end of the world, and rot. Her life was now over as far as she was concerned. This was the end of The Tooth Fairy. She lost one of the teeth and was not going to show up back to her palace for all her workers to see how much of a failure she was. The stupidity ends _now_. She was _done!_

Now if only that music would stop, she could close her eyes and fade away in peace…

…wait…

'_Music…?'_ completely forgetting her self-implored angst, Tooth lifted her head up and looked around the cavern she now lay in.

It just now seemed to occur to her that the caverns she was in now were much less deteriorated than the area she came from. The walls were a smooth, almost black granite. Various wrought iron odds and ends were spread throughout the round cavern – a few old world Victorian lanterns here, a couple dark wood end tables there. There were even flowers in dark glass vases on the mentioned tables! And that music…

'_Is that Arabian…?'_ she thought with a creased brow.

Minding the bruises and cuts – and the splitting headache in her forehead from her rather uncalled for collision – Tooth carefully pushed herself up onto her knees. She brushed off some of the broken and damaged feathers on her body before shakily getting to her feet. Around her were at least three hallways that stemmed out from the round room she found herself in. She came from the hallway behind her – the single stalagmite was a good indicator for this – and the music seemed to be coming from her left down the center corridor.

The same corridor that insufferable rat ran down. But why was there music to begin with? Pitch never struck her as one to really enjoy…well…anything; aside from terrorizing people.

She shook her head, _'Not the time, I need to get out of here! Or better yet, find that damn rat, take back that tooth, and yank its buck teeth out while I'm at it.'_

A strange shifting sound suddenly caught her attention, causing her to jump slightly and her crest feathers to shift. Her grip of her sabers tightened as she brought them out in both hands. The strange sound seemed to flow in time with the music after every few beats. It sounded like burlap sack of potatoes was being dragged slowly against the granite floor…

Shaking her head, Tooth put her sabers away and hovered off of the floor. She flitted over to door she came from, fully intending to leave. But just as she was about to vanish down the hallway, she stopped.

'_The tooth…I need to get that tooth back…'_ she thought.

Tooth roughly bit her lip as her conflicted thoughts and feelings clashed in her head. On one hand, she knew she had to get that tooth back. It was her job to keep the children's teeth safe. But on the other hand, she did _not_ want to find out, nor did she want to deal with, whatever was down that hall. And she _certainly_ didn't want to get into another game of chase with a moon damned _rat_.

She groaned to herself, her feet planted down onto the floor. Maybe the others' assumptions of her being 'too committed' to her job weren't as farfetched as she originally thought.

Sighing, she rubbed her temples and clasped her hands together, "Okay, Tooth, all you need to do is just go down the hall, find the rat – and therefore the tooth – take it back, and if you happen to see Pitch in there as well…just knock one of his teeth out and go home with a _half_ clean conscience."

Yeah…yeah, that could work. And hey, who knows? Maybe he's finally started flossing. The Mini Fairies wouldn't know the difference if she brought back a child's baby tooth or a Nightmare King's fang!

It was fine, everything was going to be just _fine!_

Throwing all other rebellious thoughts out the window, Tooth drew up her sabers again and stared down the suddenly long corridor. She took in a deep breath, squashed any leftover resolve, and pushed herself down into the proverbial lion's den…

To be continued…

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

_A/N~ Link to the song Tooth is hearing – www dot youtube dot com / watch?v=HH_35GF1ffk (removes spaces and replace 'dot' with an actual period.)_

_~S~_


	4. Chapter 4

**Snake in the Grass.**

Ch. 4

_A/N~ Double update! Please and enjoy and R&R!_

Pairing: Naga!Pitch/Tooth (Cavity)

Genre: Humor, romance.

Rating: T (for swearing and minor sexual content)

_Enjoy!_

_~S~_

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

Toothiana's hands clenched and unclenched uneasily around her sabers. Her nerves were on high, and quite frankly, she was starting to scrutinize her original idea in going at this alone. The old saying, 'if I knew then, what I knew now' came to her mind at the moment. If she knew she was going to be having so much trouble with this, and suddenly find that Pitch was maybe down these halls, she would have at least asked one of the other Guardians to accompany her. Tooth knew they wouldn't have said no. But her own damned pride had prevented her from getting proper help.

Her only safe point was the Mini Fairy no doubt still waiting for her on the surface. Tooth didn't have a way to tell time at the moment, but she knew she was running out of it, and fast. She had to act fast and swift if she wanted to get out and not have Baby Tooth bring in the cavalry.

Tooth licked her suddenly dry lips as the music grew louder with each step she took. She had long since abandoned her tactic to flying in; her buzzing wings might attract the room occupant's attention. And the last thing she needed was to make herself known. _Especially_ if it was Pitch in there…

The hallway curved into a left turn up ahead, and the music was now at its peak volume. The strange shuffling was now much more apparent, but she still could not name what could be causing it. It was quite disconcerting, but Tooth wasn't about to be put off by an odd noise.

The sound and music now at its full peak, Tooth pressed her back up against the wall that led to the corner turning into the room. She took in a few deep breaths and sighed.

'_Stay calm, Tooth. If he smells your fear, you're done for.'_ she reminded herself.

Breathing in one last time deeply through her nose, Tooth gripped her rapiers and swiftly flew into the doorway.

A sudden electrical jolt of shock that shot through her chest was enough to paralyze her at the sight.

The phonograph in the corner of the room became the apparent source of the Arabian music, the sound of various string instruments bouncing off of the mirror-like walls that made up the circular room's walls. The room was shaped like an octagon, each side made up of mirror-like obsidian. The center of the ceiling was dominated by a gothic chandelier, the candles alight with softly glowing flames that cast flickering shadows along the walls.

And in the center of the room…

A heated throb pulsed through the fairy queen's body at the sight.

The scaled tail writhed and rolled like obsidian ocean waves, rolling and twisting in a hypnotic imitation of living ivy vines. The scales leading up to the swaying hips and waist tapered up a lean back in a sharp arrow ending between prominent shoulder blades. Long, slender arms were held up above a head of spiked black hair, the long limbs sliding gracefully down scaled hips. The bare torso swayed and undulated like ripples in disturbed water, each movement beating to a steady rhythm to the music.

The center of the serpentine tail rolled and flipped, causing the spirit to turn just slightly enough for Tooth to see his face.

The fairy felt a sudden burst of heat shoot straight into her belly and face. Pitch was…that was _Pitch!?_

'_How…?'_ Tooth continued to gape, unable to move from her spot.

His eyes were shut, a look of pleasure and serenity upon his features – explaining why he had yet to see her even when he spun around. Pitch twirled around with a single swirling roll of his tail, his torso – holy molars, just where did Pitch get _that_ figure? – arching into a full arch until his head was virtually upside down, arms stretched over his head. His lower back lurched, causing his torso to undulate again back into an upright position before; his body resumed swaying amorously to the music.

Tooth's heart was pounding against her breast, feathers fluffing from the sudden heart pulsing through her body with each beat of the frantic muscle. She wasn't so sure just what she was seeing; all she knew was…she _liked_ it.

Her hands were sweating, and her grip on her sabers was-

_Clank!_

Everything _stopped_.

Pitch's body seemed to turn to stone, his snake tail frozen in a half coil and his back in mid-arch. Tooth felt like a deer caught in headlights, but the proverbial car just so happened to have a serpentine tail and commanded the shadows.

Slowly, Pitch's eclipsed eyes slid open, facing the back wall. Arms still over his head, his catlike eyes swiveled back and forth, trying to pinpoint where the sound of metal-on-stone sound came from. A frown creased his brow as his eyes locked back onto the reflective wall before him. His eyes narrowed slightly, perplexed. He could vaguely see something reflected in the stone just behind his own image. All he could make out was a blur of bright green and spots of yellow. It looked somewhat familiar. And then the thing _moved_…

A shock of rage shot from his head and down to the tip of his tail, unable to stop himself from whirling around at a breakneck pace to lock eye with his intruder.

"YOU!" he shrieked, fangs bared.

Tooth suddenly became aware of the Nightmare King lunging for her like the snake he represented. Yelping in shock, she barely managed to leap out of the way, causing Pitch to slam against the hallway's back wall, the bulk of his tail crushing her dropped rapier.

Pitch roared grotesquely as he recovered, giving her almost no chance to recover before he pursued her down the hallways. The fairy gasped and sped down the stony halls as fast as she could. But her wings weren't cooperating with her fully, her pace suddenly only at a lower speed.

"TOOTHIANA!" a shudder raced up her spine, briefly obscuring her flight pattern, from the shrill shriek.

The once gentle shuffling of scales on stone suddenly became louder, now sounding more like multiple knives scraping down a chalkboard.

Tooth's heart raced a mile a second in her chest; she could almost swear it was trying to pound its way out of her ribs so it could make a break for the surface. Not the she could blame it. But everything around her was a blur, like she was on autopilot. And her brain simply wasn't working with her body!

'_Central incisor, Moscow Russia. First molar – those scales… – Fort Worth Texas. Lower first molar, Beijing Chi – like black diamonds… – na. Upper cus – so pretty, like a first lost tooth… – pid…where…?'_ her brain was practically a lump of dead grey-matter now.

"**GET BACK HERE!**"

Tooth squeaked and mentally kicked herself back to reality. Shaking her head, she reclaimed control of her mind and wings and bolted down the halls. It didn't matter if she was going the right way or not, all that mattered was that she _got out._

'_There!'_ miraculously, Tooth found herself in a familiar foyer.

Zipping past the globe and dodging various cages and stalactites, Tooth dove for the main exit.

"RAUGH!"

Pitch suddenly jumped out of a shadow in front of her, scales bristling like bladed spikes, and fangs bored in a vicious display of aggressive anger. His hand shot out and grabbed her wrists in a tight grip. Yelping, Tooth raised her free hand – the one with her remaining rapier – up and slammed the hand down on the side of his face.

Hissing, Pitch released Tooth and instinctively reached up to protect his face from another assault. Now distracted, Tooth shut her eyes and barrel rolled around him, her arm just barely grazing over a coil of scales as she passed by. A shudder ran up her spine, _'So soft…'_

Wings scraping against rock and dirt, Tooth was unable to stop herself as she shot up, up, _up…_

"AH!" and straight up into a certain Guardian of Wonder's face, toppling them both over.

Tooth groaned into the red coat her face was buried in. She lifted her head, trying to stop the spinning of her vision, and focus on the voices calling out to her.

"Tooth! Are ya alright-"

"What happened?"

"Baby Tooth came and-"

"Scared us half to death you-"

'_What…? Those voices…they were…?'_ Tooth lifted her head, her vision clearing.

Around her – and under her in North's case – were the other Guardians and Baby Tooth, all of whom was flitting around making frantic chirping noises to her queen. What were they all doing here…?

"Tooth! TOOTH!"

"What…!?" Feathers ruffling, Tooth shot up onto her feet, only to fall back on her rear from the sudden vertigo, "Ow…"

"Tooth! Are you alright?" North asked her, checking her over for any injuries.

Sandy formed a barrage of images over his head, his own expression as frantic as his gesturing. Tooth blinked a few times to clear her vision and rubbed her aching forehead.

"Guys, guys! I'm fine! I just…" she paused, unable to finish her sentence.

"Just what? Dove into the enemy's lair without back up? All for a measly tooth?" Bunny scolded.

Baby Tooth abruptly shrieked and started screeching and pecking at the Pooka's sensitive ears. Yelping, Bunny hopped around and pinned his ears back, trying to escape the merciless assault.

North, now calm, kneeled by Tooth and gazed at her in concern.

"Tooth, why did you go into Pitch's lair alone?" he asked gently.

"Yeah, we would have helped you." Jack said, ignoring Bunny's pleas for help.

Sandy nodded and formed various question marks over his head.

Tooth, still somewhat dazed and her brain still catching up to her, only blinked slowly and fidgeted.

"Um…I uh…" she sighed and shook her head, suddenly exhausted. North sighed.

"Well, it does not matter now I suppose," he said, standing up, "You are alright, and that is what matters."

"But…the scales…" Tooth muttered.

"Scales?" Jack asked, confused.

"I-I mean tooth! The tooth! I-I have to go back for it and-"

"Later, Toothy," North said firmly, "We will _all_ come with you later to search for it, once you are rested. You look very flushed…"

Tooth touched a hand to her cheek and nearly jumped. Moon, why did her face feel so warm? It almost felt like she had a sunburn, minus any pain or irritation.

"Now, I want you to come back with us to Workshop so I can make sure you are not hurt, yes?" North said.

"Um…" Tooth muttered dazedly, "Yeah…yeah, sure…"

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

Back down in the shadowy realm, Pitch shrieked incoherently into his caverns, rattling cages and causing rubble to flake off the near endless ceilings. The serpentine shade screamed obscenities and foul words that would make Aphrodite herself blush.

Fearlings and Nightmares stood huddling in shadows and behind rocks and furniture, eyes wide and terrified of their master's wrath. They couldn't recall ever seeing their master _this_ angry; not since his defeat a while ago…

Giving one last bellowing scream to the ceiling, Pitch panted before abruptly flopping into the pile of pillows in his designated 'lounge' room. His breast heaved as he tried to regain his breath, his tail quivering with his resolve.

"Damn it…" he rasped, "Damn that fairy, damn the Guardians, damn this heat, damn _everything!_"

Ruined. Everything was _ruined!_ As if he wasn't humiliated enough with his defeat, but now one of those insufferable Guardians knew of his second form. And knew he _enjoyed_ it! She even saw him _dancing_ for Moon's sake! His reputation – what was left of it – was practically already dead now!

The low growl in his throat suddenly turned into a shrill snarl, his tail whipping before slamming down onto a coffee table, splitting it in half. A couple Fearlings hiding under it squeaked and fled to a new hiding place, but Pitch paid them no mind.

What could he do? How did that fairy even get down here? _Why_ was she down here? He told his Nightmare to put that tooth some place obvious! And yet Toothiana had snuck deep enough into his lair to find him!

'_The idiotic horse…'_ he mentally snarled. He was completely fed up now…

"Chu…"

Tensing, Pitch looked over his sloping tail and down to the floor. He cringed slightly when he caught sight of a rat sniffing at one of his lovely scales, as if contemplating taking a bite out of him.

Well two can play at that game.

The rat gave a shrill cry as his hand shot out and grabbed it around its body, his snake-like reflexes now sharpened from his form.

"Well look what the cat dragged in…" he growled.

The rat hissed at him. Pitch paused when the action caused something to drop out of its mouth and onto his lap. Still holding the rat, he reached down and picked up the item and examined it.

A shock of absolute disbelief race dup his spine as he stared at the baby tooth in his hand.

Unbe-fricken-lievable. A _rat_ had gotten to the tooth before that blasted fairy did? _That's_ why she was in his home? Because this disgusting rodent decided it would make a lovely addition to its likely vast collection of junk in whatever hole it lived in?

Pitch was far too consumed with disbelief to make an angrily sarcastic remark. He was done with this…

'_That's it. No more!'_ Squeezing the poor rat, Pitch got up and slithered over to a small cage.

He tossed the rat – minus the tooth – into it and locked it up, clenching his first around the calcium enamel.

No more of this, he thought. No more taking this Naga form anymore; if that insufferable harpy was going to go crowing to the others about his means of surviving a damn heat wave, he was not going to give her the satisfaction of being right.

Breathing in, Pitch mentally recited the reversing spell. All at once, a tight sensation pushed into his belly, sat there for a moment, and then lifted up. He shuddered as a chill washed over his splitting tail, his legs once again taking shape. The reversing of the form was not nearly as pleasant as changing into it; rather it felt like he was slipping out of a grossly hot and damp sleeping bag.

Sighing shakily, Pitch surveyed his shaking legs – a side effect of reversing the spell, his limbs became unsteady and weak. His leggings almost felt too tight on his pulsing limbs, and the urge to turn back into a Naga was almost overwhelming.

He groaned and flopped back into his pillows, the tooth clutched in his hand digging into his palm.

Damn, it was hot…

To be continued…

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

_A/N~ Well this turned out somewhat better than I expected. Anyways! I apologize again for the delay everyone! Hopefully this fic will go much smoother now that I'm settling back into it. Please enjoy and hope you like this double-update!_

_~S~_


	5. Chapter 5

**Snake in the Grass.**

Ch. 5

_A/N~ You all asked for it! And update! 8D Also! I shall be calling this particular pairing, Naga!Pitch/Tooth, __**Snakebite**__! Hah! How do you like that cheese? Great isn't it? *bricked*_

Pairing: Naga!Pitch/Tooth (Cavity aka Snakebite)

Genre: Humor, romance.

Rating: T (for swearing and minor sexual content)

_Enjoy!_

_~S~_

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

The few times Tooth's fairies would come to her with injuries or small wounds – whether from an animal or some other means – she always fussed and worried over them like a mother hen. But for some reason, they never much liked being fussed over. Once their injuries were treated, they'd demand that their queen let them get back to work. Tooth always refused though; they needed rest and to take a while to let their wounds heal. She never did understand why they didn't like the chance to settle down and rest, much less so the chance to be coddled a bit.

Now, however, she _completely_ understood.

'_To all my girls who I ever smothered like these guys are doing…I am SO sorry.'_ she thought. She made a mental note to make an actual apology to her fairies when – and if – the other Guardians let her leave and _stopped probing at her like a damn science experiment!_

"Guys, for the _last time_…" she rasped, exasperated, "I am FINE!"

"Tooth, you got a bump the size of one of my eggs on your forehead," Bunny said, examining said goose-egg, "That ain't what we call 'fine'."

"Seriously, what happened?" Jack asked, "It wasn't Pitch was it? I mean, I know he's evil and all, but he never struck me as the type to hit a girl like that…"

"Bah, Pitch is dirty fighter, would no surprise me." North grunted.

Tooth sighed, wishing so much that she could just _leave_. One of the cons of being the only female in a mostly all-boys club was that she was treated like she was made of glass.* It's sweet sometimes, even enduring. But other times – like now – Tooth felt a bit insulted. She knew it wasn't their fault – if anything, it was a chivalrous instinct in them that she could admire. But honestly, it got old fast at times. It was stupid too; whenever one of them got hurt, the others would just offer a pat on the back and not fuss over each other. Apparently it had something to do with 'manly pride' or something equally as stupid. But if _she_ so much as got a paper cut, they acted like the apocalypse was upon them!

"Can I please just go home?" she asked pleadingly, "I promise, I'll go straight home. And I _swear_, I'll come get one of you when I want to go get that tooth back!"

"Not just yet Toothy, but when we are sure you are okay, you may go." North said, his tone similar to when a parent was telling their child to wait for something.

Tooth's feathers puffed out indignantly. She was not a helpless damsel. She was a _warrior_, a _queen_. She has even gone toe-to-toe with North in a sparring match for Moon's sake! She didn't need to be put on the 'princess-pedestal' because these guys were worried she'd break a nail!

Groaning, and too exhausted to fight back, Tooth simply let the boys fuss over her. She could sneak out later when they weren't looking, go home, get some _proper_ rest, and then work on things from there.

Now if only she could get them all to stop talking at once and quit aggravating her headache…

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

It was late evening by the time Tooth actually got some peace and quiet. And by then, she had been physically and mentally _drained_ by their incessant coddling.

They all had finally started to break up when the time read for Sandy to get going on his dream spreading. After that, Bunny hopped off back to his Warren to catch up on egg inventory. Jack left a couple hours after Bunny to answer the call of snowballs and fun times somewhere in Canada. And finally, North let her off the hook when a few Yetis came in and complained about a few elves messing with their paint work.

When everyone was out, and Tooth got her headache settled down, she took her chance to escape. Though she never expected to find a frowning Baby Tooth behind the door to the room she had been confined to. She less so expected all the rebuking and scolding from the feisty thing.

"Baby Tooth, I know I shouldn't be leaving yet!" Toothiana rasped, rubbing her sore, bandaged forehead, "But I need to get back to work!"

_You mean go get that tooth back from that creep_, was the sense she got from the scrutinizing mini fairy. Tooth sighed and slumped. She cupped her hands and held them out. Baby Tooth lowered herself onto Tooth's cupped hands and stared up at her with crossed arms and a pursed lower lip. Anyone would have said the fairy looked cute, but Tooth knew she meant business.

"Look, Baby Tooth, I'm going to be honest here," she started, "Yes, I plan on going back for that tooth. And yes, I plan to do it alone and-"

Shrill chirping cut her off and caused her feathers to puff out in stunned shock. Baby Tooth continued to spout out loud chirping with various hand gestures, her own feathers ruffling and puffing.

"Don't you use that language on me young lady!" Tooth scolded.

Baby Tooth was relentless though. Tooth personally blamed Jack's influence. Ever since those two bonded over their last battle, they became inseparable and adopted one another's traits. In this case, Baby Tooth's once stubborn nature was doubled by Jack's own influential stubbornness and rebellion.

"Baby Tooth! Baby-Bab-…urgh!" Turning tail, Tooth brought the mini fairy into her room and closed the door so no one would hear them. She flew over to her bed and sat the now silenced fairy down on one of the pillows.

"Baby Tooth, I need you to _listen_ to me!" Toothiana said desperately, her hands wringing.

Baby Tooth gave her an odd look, as if she now seemed to notice something off about her queen. She cocked her head, her crest twitching, before silently encouraging Tooth to speak. The fairy queen sighed wearily and sat on the floor before the bed so she was eye level with her fairy.

"Okay…" she breathed, calming herself, "Okay, Baby Tooth, I'm sure you've noticed by now that I haven't given the whole story here…" she started. Baby Tooth rolled her eyes as if to say, 'you THINK?'

"Look…I'm going to be completely honest here and tell you what happened, but you have to swear to me, _promise me_, that you will tell _no one_," Tooth emphasized, "Not Jack, not the other fairies, and _especially_ not the other Guardians."

Baby Tooth blinked her wide, heterochromatic* eyes at her queen as if the bird woman had suddenly grown a second head. Tooth, seeing her stunned and perplexed expression, elaborated as best she could.

"It's nothing bad, I promise you that," she said, "I'm only asking you keep this between us because…well, that's just it. _Nothing_ bad happened. But I…"

Tooth took a minute to try and find the right words to describe – as vaguely as possible – what she was trying to say.

"I…I think I may have walked in on Pitch doing…" she bit her lip and helplessly looked at her fairy, "Something a bit personal…"

Baby Tooth's eyes widened and her jaw suddenly dropped. Her feathers plumed up again and she started chirping shrilly in disbelief. Tooth's face turned ten shades of red at what her fairy was asking her and she frantically shook her head.*

"What-? _NO!_" She exclaimed shrilly, covering her face with her hands, "Oh _Moon_ no! It wasn't anything like _that_, no. Why would you even-? How do you even _know_ about stuff like that!?"

Baby Tooth gave her another incredulous look. How did she THINK? She and her sisters work during the night, and all kinds of things happened at night. Not even half of the things they learned about humans was leaned half the time on _accident_.

Toothiana suddenly felt the urge to bury her head in a hole. How they went from having a serious discussion to a sex-ed course completely flew over her head. This was just not her day.

"Okay, no, not even close," She said firmly, "Though he was topless…"

Baby Tooth let out a long, almost groan-like whistle and cupped her tiny hands over her ears. Again, cute moment, immature timing.

"Look…" Tooth rasped, rubbing her temples, "Just hear me out okay? You wanted to know about this, so you're going to hear it whether you like it or not."

Baby Tooth groaned to herself shrilly and dropped her hands to her sides. Tooth had a point though; she asked – demanded – for this, the least she could do was hear her queen out.

Taking in a deep breath, Tooth began to recount her tale in as much detail as she could relay.

The trek into the lair, the searching, the frustration, the rat, the chase with the rat, frustration, her bump to the head, _more frustration_. It all led up to a single moment of hearing music and her curiosity and desperate desire to find a tooth. And it all led up to finding Pitch Black, somehow donned in a new half-man half-snake form, _dancing_ to an Arabian dance number.

Baby Tooth was, thankfully, silent throughout the whole thing. She actually seemed to become enraptured with the tale, but then became stunned when Tooth mentioned Pitch's new form.

"He looked like a Naga…" she said, "Granted, I've only ever seen a handful of them before, and only spoke to one – she was very nice, kind of awkward though – but I didn't fully understand it…"

Tooth fiddled with a feather that had come loose from her body while Baby Tooth continued to steadily absorb this new information. It was silent for a short span of time, before Baby Tooth chirped inquisitively at her queen. Tooth shrugged.

"I'm not sure, but I doubt it's for some new scheme," she said, "He seemed completely caught up in the…moment…"

The fact that Tooth was having a hard time revisiting the memory spoke volumes to her predicament. For one thing, she was still a bit embarrassed. Though why, she could not figure out; she didn't know why she felt like she had just walked in on some strange man while he was in the shower. It made no sense! It's not like she's never seen Pitch topless!

…okay, that was a lie. She's never seen him missing any articles of clothing, but that plunging neckline practically gave away what was hidden underneath…no, that was a lie too. That damned shapeless cloak of his was just one big tease – a complete contrast to what he used to wear during their earlier years. Bunny once remarked that he dressed like a hooker during those days. It wasn't too far of a stretch in all honesty.*

The leather, the straps, the belts, the mesh…and all that skin…now it's even more skin…and scales…Moon, when did he get in shape? He was so scrawny when they last saw him and-

'_STOP!'_ That urge to bury her head in a hole was suddenly becoming _very_ appealing. In fact, she was contemplating making the hole herself by slamming her head into the wall.

Groaning, Tooth planted her face into the edge of the bed. She didn't care what kind of weird look Baby Tooth was giving her at this point. Apparently she left her dignity and pride back in Pitch's lair along with that accursed tooth. Baby Tooth watched her with a slightly disturbed look on her face. But after a moment of staring, she let out a shrill sigh and chirped lowly at her queen.

Tooth swiftly lifted her head up with wide eyes, "What?"

Baby Tooth gave another chip, louder and slightly annoyed this time, and crossed her tiny arms with a frown at the side wall.

Tooth blinked her large eyes before a large grin broke out over her face. Baby Tooth didn't have the chance to escape before she was pulled into a tight embrace in Tooth's hands, her head roughly being nuzzled by the fairy queen's cheek.

"Oh thank you Baby Tooth! I owe you one!" She crooned, planting a sloppy kiss on the mini fairy's head.

Chirping indignantly, Baby Tooth wiggled out of Tooth's hold and chirped fervently at her. She smoothed her tussled feathers down and pointed at Tooth, chirping firmly.

"What? No, Baby Tooth, I'm happy you're letting me go, but I can't let you come and-"

The shrill rumble that reverberated from the mini fairy was quite disconcerting. And the absolute death glare she was giving Tooth was also quite unnerving. But it also made one thing clear; she was going with Tooth whether she liked it or not, and there was nothing she could do to stop her.

Tooth sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. There wasn't anything to be done about it…

"Okay…okay, alright, you can come," she said, "But if anything happens, I want you to get out. Don't stick around to try and fight, okay?"

Rolling her eyes, Baby Tooth chirped out an agreement.

Nodding with a grateful grin, Tooth hovered back into the air and flew over to the window – she caught sight of a loose Snowglobe on the desk across from her bed and took it, along with a small satchel she could keep it in; just in case she needed a quick escape. Baby Tooth followed close behind as she opened it up, shuddering briefly from the sudden blast of cold from the North Pole.

Tooth took one last look at the door to her room before turning back to the window, and leaping out and flying towards Burgess…

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

Tooth peaked around the tunnel entrance and gazed into an all too familiar foyer. Like before, it was empty save for the hanging cages and a hollow stone globe. Not a sound was heard, and no signs of Fearlings or Nightmares were present.

Surveying the large room, Tooth looked back at her helper, "We shouldn't fly while we're in here. The sound could attract attention."

Baby Tooth chirped lowly and landed on her queen's shoulder. Tooth folded her own wings neatly behind her back, and made the trek into the foyer and down the hallway obscured slightly by an all too familiar stalagmite. Tooth winced slightly when she caught sight of a few pin-feathers stuck in a few of its cracks, as well as a very faint stain of blood. She unconsciously ran her hand over the patched up bump on her forehead. Did she really hit it that hard?

Tooth suddenly became distracted by a bead of sweat running down her face. She sighed and quickly wiped it off with a frown. It felt so much hotter than last time for some reason.

'_Come to think of it…'_ Tooth looked around the foyer briefly.

It seemed to finally occur to her that there was a very fine layer of fog along the floor of the foyer. The air was thicker and humid too; it was actually hotter and more humid than her own home in Punjam Hy Loo. Her home was pleasantly warm and humid, but this…she almost felt like she was suffocating. And judging by Baby Tooth's increased breathing and shuffling of her feathers, she felt the same way.

'_How can Pitch live like this? I always thought he liked cooler climate…'_ she thought.

Shaking her head, Tooth perished the thought and wandered down the dark hallway. She was determined to find that tooth, and if she found the rat too, well, she would keep her promise; she always carried some pliers with her.

Tooth was about to turn down the next hallway, but a shrill chirp from Baby Tooth caught her attention.

"What? What is it Baby Tooth?" she asked, worried they may have attracted unwanted attention.

Baby Tooth was pointing frantically with wide eyes at the opposite hall. Toothiana turned and gasped, covering her mouth.

The entire hall was covered in black sand. It took her a moment to realize – as they were nearly indistinguishable in their collapsed state – that the piles of sand were disintegrated Nightmares. Hesitantly, Tooth approached one of the mounds of sand and probed it with her foot. Nothing happened, but she noted how the sand seemed damp, and stuck to her foot like she had stepped onto a wet beach.*

"What…what happened?" she breathed, "Did the humidity do this to them?"

Baby Tooth merely gave an uncertain whistle, staring at the sand dunes with a wary gaze. Tooth swallowed dryly and turned away from the piles of sand and focused on the hall ahead of her. She could dwell on the Nightmares later, but now she had to focus on getting the missing tooth back. And maybe catch a glimpse of Pitch again while she was at it…

'_Oh Moon, what is wrong with me?'_ Tooth mentally blamed her bird-genes on this sudden fascination with Pitch.*

Sighing, Tooth decided to risk it and started to fly down the hallway. It would make things go faster, and chances were, any other Nightmares that were in the lair were in the same condition as the ones Baby Tooth found. And Fearlings alone were too weak to do anything to her – Pitch, however, would be another story.

But the further she went into the underground city, the hotter and more humid it became. Sweat gathered on her brow and seeped into her feathers. It was a gross, and uncomfortable feeling that she tried desperately to ignore. But now that she thought about it, this would explain why Pitch had spontaneously taken the form of a snake. If his lair became like this during the hot seasons, it would have been a fantastic way to survive and adapt to it. Snakes were naturally very comfortable in hot and humid environments after all*, and he couldn't exactly just go somewhere cooler to stay; no other place could contain his Fearlings or Nightmares like his lair could. This also seemed to explain why his activity was so scarce during the summers, or so it seemed to the Guardians.

Tooth turned another corner suddenly and looked around. She was in the same round room like before, but this time she couldn't hear any music coming from any of the adjoining hallways. It was still and quiet as death, and the humidity was at its worst.

Tooth looked around at the various hallways and frowned. Where should she start? But then again, there were likely dozens, if not hundreds, of tunnels and rooms for her to check. There was no way she could look into them all to find one tooth. Especially if the rat still had it; for all she knew, the rat did still have it and would move around from room to room!

"Well…" she sighed, "Better get started. Baby Tooth, you go take the hall to the left, I'll check the right one. If you find anything, come get me, okay?"

Chirping an affirmative, Baby Tooth flew off her shoulder and zipped down the directed hallway. Once she was sure Baby Tooth wasn't flying into any trouble, Tooth departed down her own hallway.

Unlike the majority of the hallways, this one was much shorter and had only one turn. The room it led to was also illuminated with fiery torches perched on the walls, the room itself revealing to be a large armory.

Swords, spears, bows and arrows, maces, clubs and various types of armor and shields – it was all stored neatly and hung on the walls of that one room.

"Wow…" she breathed, hovering over to look at a form-fitting suit of black armor. Intimidating as it was, it was a beautiful set, and its streamlined form would allow the wearer more movement in a fight.

Judging by its height and the general body shape, Tooth guessed it was to be worn by Pitch. But Tooth couldn't really imagine him wearing armor. Though as she stepped back and looked at it, picturing Pitch fit into it, she had to admit it was a rather handsome image…

Clunk…

"Ow!" Tooth instinctively withdrew her foot when she accidently backed her heel into something hard.

Looking down, she stared in astonishment at the pile of metal just lying on the floor. The strangely shaped metals were arranged in a curved row, like a large armored snake-

Gasping, Tooth kneeled down to the row of metal and reached out for it. Her hands brushed over a part of it, and she shuddered. The metal – no, the _armor_ had the same textural pattern of Pitch's scales. It wasn't as soft as his scales, but it was just as smooth, and held a gossamer sheen from the low fire light of the torches.

But how was it even made? The whole thing was all one piece, not sectioned like it would normally be made in this size. It was impossible to form something like it without building it up in sections, and yet there were no marks to suggest this. And why would he need armor for his snake tail in the first place?

'_And why texture it like his scales…?'_ She thought, gently running her fingers over the scaled ridges in curiosity.

Her thoughts were shattered, however, by the sound of a certain mini fairy shrieking as she flew into the room in a frenzy. Tooth swiftly turned and looked at her flustered fairy.

"Baby Tooth, what is it? Did you find something?" she asked, cupping her hands under the fairy.

Baby Tooth did not land though. Instead she fluttered in place, feathers puffed out and gesturing frantically to the door. All the while she spouted various chirps, whistles and cries in such a speedy succession, Tooth could barely keep up with it.

"What…? Pitch? You found Pitch but…?" Tooth frowned.

Baby Tooth whistled shrilly and started gesturing again. All Tooth managed to catch were 'Pitch', 'not waking up', and 'help'.

'_What…?'_ the gears in Tooth's head started turning. The sudden mental image of the disintegrated Nightmare sand suddenly came to mind, while the rest of her head did the math of what her fairy was saying.

Gasping, Tooth bolted back down the hall with Baby Tooth on her tail. She turned down the hallway she had sent Baby Tooth down and looked around.

It was a bedroom, or so she assumed it was one. There was a lounge area with a couple tall bookcases pushed up against the back and far right wall, while the right wall held a fireplace with a wardrobe up against the back wall next to it. The wall across from the door was dominated by a luxurious silken bed drape held up on the wall by a bird cage similar to the ones in the foyer. The black drapes were speckled with gold embroidery in various patterns and shapes, matching gold and black lace flanking the inside of the long drapes.

But instead of accenting and draping over a bed, the drapes cast themselves over a huge pile of plush silken pillows of various shades of black and gold, the largest one dominating the pile covered in embroidery that matched the drapes.

And on the pile of pillows lay Pitch Black. And he wasn't moving…

"Um…" Tooth started, uncertain, "Pitch…?"

The Nightmare King didn't move, and Tooth suddenly became aware of Baby Tooth chirping urgently at her. The mini fairy suddenly bolted over to Pitch, now hovering over his bare torso. She gestured frantically to him and chirped at Tooth.

_He won't wake up!_ She said.

Gasping, Tooth flew over and hovered over Pitch, taking in his flushed appearance.

The Nightmare King was breathing frantically, seemingly passed out. He was clad in nothing but his form fitting leggings, so it wasn't hard to notice the thin layer of sweat glazing his body in a bright sheen. His breast heaved with each breath he took, and his cheeks were flushed purple – was that normal!?*

"Pitch? Pitch!" she called, touching his shoulder. Tooth almost immediately pulled it back though at what she felt.

He was positively _sweltering_. She may not know what his normal body temperature should be, but even Tooth knew that that kind of high body heat was _not_ a good sign. It was no wonder he wasn't waking up; he was probably suffering heatstroke!

"Oh Moon…!" she exclaimed.

Baby Tooth chirped and gestured frantically, at a loss of what to do. Tooth looked around the room, trying to find anything that could help. Pitch was severely overheated, and spirit or not, even he could die from it.

Water…she needed to find water. She had to cool him off. But how? All the water sources she had first seen in his lair had all evaporated to become humidity in his lair! The pools were gone, so she couldn't drag him to one of those.

Looking back at Pitch, Tooth grabbed his shoulders and shook him a bit.

"Pitch! Come on, I need you to open your eyes," she said loudly, hoping it would wake him, "You need to turn back into that snake form, otherwise you're going to overheat!"

No response other than a garbled moan from the overheating shade, his head lolling back limply. Frantic, Tooth slapped him clean across the cheek to hopefully garner a response. Nothing.

'_Oh come on, what can I-'_ Tooth paused her thought as her forgotten satchel bumped against her hip.

The pole! She could take him to the North pole, it was definitely cold enough there.

'_No, no! It's too cold, and he's covered in sweat. He'll be a popsicle before he wakes up.'_ She thought.*

Groaning in frustration, Tooth took out the Snowglobe anyways. She had to figure out some place she could take him where he would be safe, cool, and unable to cause trouble if he was capable of it. But where could they go?

Tooth bit her lip as the reflection of a familiar palace showed in the globe. She had wanted to avoid taking him there at all costs, but…

Looking to the panting Nightmare King, Tooth felt a pang of sympathy for the suffering man. Obviously her accidental peeking in on him had either caused him to revert to his original form, or he was just as embarrassed as she was at the time and still reversed it.

Her hands tightened around the globe as she stared at Pitch's flushed form. She didn't have much choice now, did she?

Making up her mind, Tooth flew down to hover by Pitch's left side. She slipped one arm under his upper back, and used the other to guide his long arm over her petite shoulders. She kicked her wings into gear and hauled him up into a sitting position – he was lighter than she expected, much to her surprise and relief.

She managed to haul him off the pile of pillows and slumped against her hovering form. It was a bit difficult to keep a hold on his damp body, but she managed to keep him hanging from her shoulders. Baby Tooth tried to help by grabbing his limp hand in her arms – it wasn't really much help, but it was still appreciated by Tooth. Shaking the globe, she said her destination.

"Tooth Palace!"

She threw the globe, causing a swirling vortex of various colors to spring forth. Tooth looked to her helper and smiled meekly.

"Ready?" she asked.

Baby Tooth nodded and gave her queen an encouraging smile. Nodding over to her helper, Tooth sighed and guided them into the portal.

To be continued…

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

_A/N~ We're getting to the good parts! Yay! *dances*_

_- Take it from the girl who grew up around all mostly male cousins. Up until adolescence, they treated me like one of them. But once we reached teen hood, I was suddenly too delicate to play in their games. _

_- I'm sure some of you have noticed, but in the movie, Baby Tooth has two different colored eyes. One eye is blue, and the other is purple. _

_- You all can guess what Baby Tooth thought Tooth saw. And if you can't, then I am sorry, you really shouldn't be here on this site..._

_- This is a reference to what Book!Verse Pitch wore. Very sexy, I was a bit put off when I looked at the book art and then looked back at the movie (Note: Sumi saw the movie first, then read the books.)_

_- I imagine Pitch's Nightmares can become unstable if they get wet. They are made of sand after all - Dreamsand maybe, but it's still sand. I won't call this a headcanon, but it IS fitting for this scenario._

_- Various species of birds are attracted to their male counterparts by displays of dancing and showing off. It's not too much of a stretch to assume this would also apply to Toothiana._

_- Fact, a very large percentage of snakes live in the tropics, while the remaining percentage live in dry/hot climate. Humidity is much preferred for snakes though. There are even misting machines you can buy for your pet snake!_

_- There are a few fics where Pitch has been described to blush purple. I actually think it's cute! My second favorite way for him to blush would be him blushing a very dark shade of grey, since one of my head canons for him is he has black blood._

_- You ever woke up in a cold sweat, and when you toss your blankets off, you're suddenly freezing? Imagine that, but instead it's an ice box in your room. Sweat cools and freezes much faster than water since it contains body-salt particles._

_Enjoy!_

_~S~_


	6. Chapter 6

**Snake in the Grass.**

Ch. 6

_A/N~ Wow, I am having WAY too much fun writing this one. That doesn't even make any sense! I don't DO het! What is happening to me!? D8_

_Lol kidding! Though but seriously, I honest to god cannot remember the last time I wrote het. I do know I once experimented pairing a female OC with a male canon character (this was to see what all the hype on this was about) and basically threw my arms up by the third paragraph. Tru story bro. XD _

_But anyways! Please enjoy this, and __**ALSO!**__ Check out my tie-breaker poll on my profile! It seems we had a tie between 'Solitude and Darkness' and 'Snake in the Grass'! Break the tie! The pole will end next Monday. _

Pairing: Naga!Pitch/Tooth (Cavity aka Snakebite)

Genre: Humor, romance.

Rating: T (for swearing and minor sexual content)

Enjoy!

_~S~_

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

The first thing Pitch became actively aware of was how _hot_ he felt.

The second thing he noticed was the strange, yet comforting floating sensation he felt around his body. Like he was lying on a cloud, and it was slowly, so very _slowly_, getting cooler.

His sense of awareness was blurry and sluggish, and he only became aware of his senses coming back by the slow progression of sound, sight, and touch being integrated back into his thought process. The first sound he considered to be significant – and hopefully not a hallucination – were the sounds of running water and…chirping sounds? Was he outside?

No, that wasn't right. But the dark, muddled yellow passing over his eyelids would say otherwise. And the chirping was too constant, like there was an endless flock of birds flying over him. And they sounded oddly familiar…

A sudden throb resonated through his limbs, causing a muffled groan to thrum through his throat. Oh _Moon_ everything _hurt…! _

His legs, his arms, _especially_ his joints and head – they all bloody _hurt!_* What in the name of hell _happened_ to him? What could cause these grinding, pulsating aches and pains in his limbs? His skin didn't feel damaged, and yet it felt like someone had taken a bunch of heated knives to his bones and muscles. His bones felt brittle, like they had been replaced with poorly spun glass. And his flesh…oh _Moon_ since when was his own skin so tight and hot? Was it spontaneously replaced with poorly cured leather?

'_Hot…it's too hot…!'_ Another groan escaped his parched throat – when did his throat suddenly become filled with sand? – and he felt his shaking limbs shifting in a weak attempt at struggling.

Something cool and soft landed gently on his cheeks.

"No, don't move," he heard a voice – a woman's voice – say, "You're still too sick to move."

Sick? When did he get sick? And that floating sensation…he really _was_ floating, but not like he originally assumed. It wasn't some kind of bodily hallucination, he concluded. No, judging by the very slight yet gentle resistance to his movements, and the buoyancy, he was floating in water. And the two soft things – hands he realized – on his cheeks were keeping his head above the water. And his head was leaning against something he couldn't really make out…

"Wuhn…" what was _that?_ Did that seriously just come out of his mouth? What was _wrong_ with him!?

"Oh!" the voice exclaimed in realization. One of the hands on his face removed itself – why did he suddenly miss it? – and sounds of what he assumed was pottery clunked around beside him. He heard something 'plunk' into the water briefly before the lip of either a bowl of a wide cup was pressed to his own dry lips.

"Here, now that you're awake, it should be easier to drink now." The woman said gently.

Drink? Water…_water!_

Pitch's sense of manners and dignity seemed to completely fly out the proverbial window at the implication of the liquid. He ignored the startled protests as one of his arms shot out of the water and tipped the bowl back as far as it could go to allow the maximum amount of water to fall into his mouth.*

Moon and stars above, it was so _good_, he needed _more…!_

Gasping and tossing the bowl aside, he slipped out of the woman's grasp and allowed himself to sink into the pool of water, ignoring her startled protests.

It felt like an icy slap to the face when his head was submerged, but it felt so _good_ and the _relief_ oh Moon he just wanted to drown drown _drown…!_

Something broke the surface of the water and grabbed his arm, yanking upwards against the pull of the water. Pitch sucked down as much of the clear liquid as he could before his head broke the surface again, his water logged hearing picking up the sound of startled yelling and scolding.

"-in Moon's name are you doing!?" was what he managed to catch when the water left his ears, "You could have drowned!"

Wasn't that the point though? Pitch mentally frowned. No…no, that wasn't what he wanted to do. Why would he do that?

The Boogeyman felt the sludge in his brain slowly start to clear from his mind. It seemed dunking one's head in cool water was actually quite an effective method to clear the head – not to mention it was quite refreshing now that he thought about it. But so far, instead of trying to scrap up any and all forms of relief from his formerly hazy state, he felt his once resolve start to awaken as his senses fully revived themselves.

He frowned as he was hauled up against what he now could conclude was the edge of either a swimming pool or a man-made body of water. He ignored the scolding voice, his eyes slowly recovering and demanding to open, despite the promise of light.

Slowly, his eyes cracked open just the tiniest bit, and almost immediately shut at the onslaught of light that assaulted his pupils. He groaned, but mentally willed himself to plow through and adjust. The second time he opened his eyes – a bit wider this time – Pitch felt a sense of déjà vu overcome him.

Gold and various other iridescent colors of jewels and gems overran his vision. Before him was a large expanse of deep blue water, and above it, an all too familiar mural featuring a certain Guardian of Memories.

The rest of the vague information he had taken in seemed to fall into place.

The bird-like sounds he had heard were from the mini fairies up above in the towers, a few of them hovering around the oasis. The light he had once thought could have been the sun itself had dimmed as his brain finally registered that it wasn't, in fact, that bright, and turned out to be the nearly dawn-colored gold of Tooth Palace. The unknown, tropical smell he now seemed to register was likely from the jungle below, as well as the small abundance of tropical fruits piled in various baskets off to the side of the pool.

And the owner of the hands that once rested so comfortingly on his face just so happened to be Toothiana…

Pitch now had three options. He could go completely postal and fall into his usual dramatics and fight tooth and nail to escape what was _obviously_ a kidnapping. He could take the more cautious approach and try and make a break for it and take his chances. Or he could be tactful and use a more passive approach.

He chose option three; denial.

"Oh I see," he said blankly, "I'm still hallucinating. How lovely…"

No, he was not in Tooth palace. No, he was not floating in a pool of blessedly cool water that was soothing his scorching body. No, he had not been previously tended to so tenderly by Toothiana during his weakened state. _Nope_, he was _not_ in denial!

Tooth, meanwhile, simply gave Pitch a slightly bewildered look, as if he had suddenly asked how the weather was. Well, actually, by this point that probably would have made more sense, or so she thought.

"Um…Pitch?" she started carefully, as if she were speaking to a frightened animal, "You're not hallucinating. I found you passed out in your lair suffering from heatstroke…"

His lair? Heatstroke? How absurd! He could suffer no such illness, his body would never be affected by the he-

'_Wait…'_ Pitch's eyes widened and his eyes veered down to his lower body. He gaped in open shocked.

Instead of seeing a long, obsidian tail like he expected, he saw a pair of gangly legs – still thankfully clad in their trademark leggings, thank the Moon. It seemed Tooth was descent enough to leave him at least half dressed; he was missing his cloak.

He suddenly frowned again, a twinge of falsehood prickling at his brain. No, that wasn't right…no, _he_ took his own cloak off. But why? Why did he…?

'_Wait, no…that's right! I took it off because I was…warm?'_ he thought, his frown deepening. Why had he been warm?

Something seemed to click in Pitch's head, and it clicked _hard_.

Yes, now he remembered. Tooth had come into his lair a while ago, perhaps a day ago. She had been looking for…for a tooth! Yes, a tooth. But she stumbled upon Pitch himself while he was…was _dancing!_ In his _Naga_ form no less! And he had, obviously, blown the proverbial fuse out of humiliation and chased her out. And after that…he had reverted back to his natural form, vowing to never take on his serpentine form ever again. But then it suddenly started getting hotter…and hotter…and _hotter_…

'_That's right…my Nightmares, they started disintegrating, and I was getting so tired…'_ he thought,_ 'Yes, it was warm, and I was tired. I went to go to sleep and then…'_

And then what?

It suddenly seemed to occur to Pitch that, if not for Tooth, he would have burnt to death from the inside out from his skyrocketing fever. Who in their right mind falls asleep in the middle of a giant oven!?* Well, obviously he hadn't been in his right mind, the heat must have slowly been frying any and all brain cells he possessed at the time and lulled him into a state of exhaustion. And he was all too familiar with that state…

But then…did that mean this _wasn't_ a hallucination? He didn't die and wake up in some kind of personal hell crafted just for him? Or was he in some kind of macabre heaven?

Tooth was slowly finding herself becoming uncomfortable under the hazy, suspicious gaze of the Nightmare King. Granted she couldn't blame him for his thinking she was a hallucination. He was likely still a bit hazy in the head, and past history would understandably prevent him from accepting that she would help him in any way, shape, or form. Why on earth would he expect any help from her, or any of the Guardians for that matter?

The thought suddenly saddened her, and dropped a burden of remorse into her stomach. Really, it had gotten to the point where Pitch was denying she had saved him from dying a slow, agonizing death in his own home. The thought of anyone, even Pitch, dying had never settled well with Tooth. Death was not something most people welcomed so freely, nor was it something one often thought about, especially if they were immortal.

But now the very idea of Pitch's life ending – and in such a painful way – suddenly made Tooth ill. She couldn't say she liked him, but she didn't _hate_ him, and she definitely didn't wish death on him!

'_Well if this doesn't make me want to crawl into a hole, I don't know what will…'_ she sighed and sat on her knees at the shore of the pool, hands folded neatly on her lap.

"Pitch, this isn't a hallucination," she started, "I went back to your lair to get a lost tooth back that had been left behind. But instead Baby Tooth and I found you passed out from overheating in your room. And, well…" her hands started fidgeting, her upper teeth chewing her lower lip.

"Well…I couldn't just leave you there! You were just so hot and – I-I mean! Not hot, like attractive hot – erm, I mean, not to say you're not attractive or anything, I just – no wait, what I mean to say is…"*

Pitch was getting the distinct impression that he was, in fact, hallucinating. It would explain everything. There was just no way Tooth had just implied he was attractive in her eyes. There was also simply _no way_ Tooth was sitting there, stuttering and tripping over her words in his presence. This was _not_ happening. And if he wasn't hallucinating, well, it just meant he's finally gone full circle round the bend…

'_So it's true then. I have finally gone mad.'_ He thought. Maybe he could spare himself the humiliation of others finding out and drown himself in this imaginary water…

_Chirp!_

Pitch jumped when he got a face full of scrutinizing mini fairy. The heterochromatic eyes and beauty mark under the right eye became the all too familiar traits he recognized from a previous encounter.

Frost's little sidekick puffed up and glared daggers at Pitch, as if she was just waiting for him to pick a fight with her. He was almost tempted actually, if only because he was too prideful to never back down from any kind of fight, even with a damn fairy.

"Baby Tooth!" Toothiana scolded. She hovered over and quickly shooed the fairy away – although Baby Tooth only gave the compromise of hovering behind Tooth as her queen confronted the man. The fairy eyed Pitch suspiciously and puffed up when they locked eyes; she meant business.

"Alright, um, Pitch…" Tooth started, facing the half submerged man, "This, this right here, is _not_ a hallucination. It's real, _I'm_ real. And I was telling the truth when I said I found you in your lair passed out and overheating…"

Pitch slowly seemed to absorb this information. It was like the start of a slow trickle leaking from a dam. The crack steadily expanded, and the trickle became a steady flow. But the moment Tooth firmly insisted on her being in his home, finding him so ill, the crack split and the dam burst.

Which meant he had to rethink he latter strategy and use a different coping method.

"Oh I call complete and utter _bullshit!_" he snapped, rising up further from the water.

Tooth gasped, "Excuse me? What did you-what are you doing!?" she snapped.

"I…!" Pitch grunted as he hauled himself out of the pool of water and shakily stood up on his heavy legs. He felt like there were lead weights tied to his ankles, "Am leaving…!"

"Pitch, no, you can't just-! Will you listen to me!?" The fairy zipped after the unsteady Boogeyman, all of whom was trying to locate a dark enough shadow to teleport through.

"You can't just leave! You're nowhere near recovered!" she snapped, hovering in front of him to block his path.

"Woman, I am _plenty_ fine, thank you very much! I have been through far worse!" he snapped, trying to maneuver around here, but only managing to grab onto a small tree to balance himself. Why was it so fricken hot…!?

"What the-!?" flustered, Tooth's face took on an interesting shade of red, hackles rising, "Woman!?"

"Listen you, I-hey!" Pitch flinched back as Baby Tooth swarmed and buzzed around his face, chirping and squeaking shrilly at him. Her colorful body's movement was quite dizzying to look at, and she was close enough for her beak-like nose to poke an eye out.

"Get out of here you little-!" leaning back, Pitch swatted a hand at her while he kept the other on the tree to stay upright, "Would you just-!?"

"Baby Tooth! Stop that!" He heard Tooth scold. Unbelievable, doesn't that fairy know how to control her charges?

'_Oh you're one to talk…'_ he thought. Since when did he think to himself in the second person? And why was it so _fricken hot here!?_

"Urgh! Get your damned pest of a minion out of my face and-!" a sudden lurch in his gut cut Pitch's rant off short, and a sudden wave of foreboding unease shot up into his throat. Pitch's arm wrapped around his suddenly tense stomach, while the second hand clapped over his mouth.

"Oh Moon…!" Falling to his knees, Pitch turned away from the fairies, back arching as he proceeded to purge whatever little food he had last consumed in the last twenty-four hours.*

Tooth squeaked in surprise as the Boogeyman lurched and gagged, partly digested food falling from his mouth along with bile and a worrying amount of black fluid. And whether it was from pure instinct or pity, Tooth didn't give a second thought in flitting over to the ill spirit to kneel beside him, a dainty hand rubbing his shaking back soothingly. Baby Tooth, meanwhile, was looking a bit sick herself and opted to stay as far away from Pitch's puking range as possible.

Only two minutes passed before Pitch stopped vomiting, and another three minutes until he stopped gagging and choking. But to him, it felt like days had gone by. His body was pulsing with a painful heat, the aches in his limbs intensifying with each pulse.* His throat hurt and felt raw, like someone had taken a branding iron to his esophagus. He felt disgusting and sick and this _heat_ oh Moon make it stop…!

Tooth winced when Pitch abruptly flopped onto his side, mindful of the puddle of purged fluids, and simply lay staring at the sheer wall leading up to the towers, panting. The fairy queen felt a jolt of pained sympathy for the Boogeyman. She quickly shooed Baby Tooth away to give Pitch some space, and to properly help him without worrying about the mini fairy assaulting him.

Looking back at him, Tooth was slightly disturbed by the trail of black liquid steadily streaming down from his eyes, like inky tears. His skin was flushed near white, and yet there were patches of purple on his body – his neck, cheeks, and ears were the most prominent areas.

"Pitch…?" she started gently, hesitantly placing a hand on his shaking, clammy arm, "Are you okay? Did you get it all out?"

Pitch panted between words as he spoke, "What…does it look like…? I feel…bloody _fantastic…!_" he coughed and groaned at the strain the action inflicted upon his raw throat.

Tooth decided to ignore his snark for the moment; now was not the time to provoke the Nightmare King and inevitably fall hook, line, and sinker into one of his immature games. He was starting to overheat again if what she was feeling under her hand was anything to go by, and the fact that he started throwing up was also not a good sign. His body was going through too much stress; he needed to calm down and cool off.

'_But he can't stay in the water forever…'_ she thought,_ 'And he needs to eat something too, but he can't keep anything down if he's overheating like this.'_*

Sighing, Tooth shook her head. She didn't have much choice in the matter, but it wasn't like she was going to expect Pitch to cooperate, let alone agree.

"Come on Pitch, let's get you back into the water." She said.

Pitch was too exhausted and miserable to protest by this point. He let he fairy queen help haul him up to his unsteady feet, and lead him back to the water's edge. She sat him down by the shore, letting him slip his legs into the water before the rest of him followed. She sat on the edge of the shore beside him, his head resting on one folded arm on the shore.

Instant relief washed over him, but it wasn't as healing as it was before. If anything, it was barely doing anything in curing his body of the aches and pains, nor was it dispelling too much of the heat in his body. He was so tired, but he was not about to fall asleep again. What if he woke up in North's Workshop this time? Or worse, Bunny's Warren…

He suddenly became aware of Tooth talking to him, her voice breaking through his slowly blurring mind.

"-turn back into that form." Was all he caught. He frowned at her, confused. Turn back? Back to what? What was she talking about?

Tooth seemed to pick up on his perplexed expression and sighed, her feathers flattening nervously. She fiddled with some of the feathers on her wrists and gave Pitch a slightly apprehensive look.

"That snake form you had before, you need to turn back into it so you can survive the climate here." She explained.

The haze that once clouded Pitch's head seemed to clear up the moment she brought up his Naga form. The Boogeyman snarled – though weakly – at her and sneered.

"If you think for one minute that I am going to let you patronize me-"

"Oh wake up Pitch! This is not the time to be prideful," Tooth snapped, "You're sick, and if you don't change and adapt, you will die!"

It was a harsh and blunt way of putting things, but damn it, Tooth was getting so fed up with Pitch's illogically stubborn attitude. Was he really so adamant at preserving his pride over his life?

Pitch grit his teeth – Tooth had to physically restrain herself from grabbing and shaking him so he would stop it – and _growled_ at Tooth. The fairy woman barely withheld a shudder from the animalistic noise that sounded like a cross between a cat's purr and a tiger's sensual rumble.

"And why the hell should I listen to you?" he hissed, "Give me one good reason why I should obey you – you, who trapped me in my own personal hell, lashed out at me when I was defenseless, oh and let's not forget you're barging into my home like some uncivilized heathen!"

The latter insult was, surprisingly, not enough to clear away the guilt that dropped into Tooth's gut. But this definitely explained Pitch's rebellion. What she assumed was stubborn pride, was actually _fear_. It wasn't about his image, it was about the fact that he honestly thought he was in a dangerous position to be in. He was like a cornered animal; he was frightened but didn't outwardly show it. Instead raised his hackles and bore his teeth to try and intimidate and work his way out of the corner. He didn't trust her – understandably so, but that didn't mean Tooth still didn't feel a bit put out.

She sighed. There was almost nothing to be done about it. She would have to negotiate with Pitch; it was the only real method she could use that has at least a small guarantee of working.

"Okay…" she sighed, "Listen…I'll make you a deal."

"Oh this ought to be good…" Pitch rasped, his body going limp over the pool's edge. He was so damn tired…

"Firstly…" Tooth started, ignoring his snarky remark, "If you turn into your snake form, and let your body recover, I will leave you alone and never bring up what it is I saw in your lair yesterday."

Pitch scoffed, but he seemed to be listening.

"Second, I want you to stay here until you are fully recovered," she said, "If you cooperate and don't harm me or my fairies, I'll leave you be to do…anything within reason around here."

"And…?"

"And…" Tooth paused, contemplating the thoughts running rampant through her head, suddenly unsure. Was she seriously going to actually bride him into her own selfish desires? Did she really want to put that deal on the table?

'_Oh screw it…'_ she could dwell on her guilt later, now she had a negotiation to proceed with.

"And I want you to stay here for the rest of the summer." She said.

…_what?_

Pitch took a moment to rewind and play back just what he thought he heard come out of the fairy's mouth. He stared at her expectantly, waiting for the anticipated punch-line to what was obviously a very bad joke.

It never came.

"…I'm sorry, I think a couple of your fairies must have lodged themselves into my ears." he rasped.

"Y-you have to stay here …" Tooth said, trying to stay confident.

Pitch suddenly barked out laughing – the action causing a small coughing fit and a wave of dizziness to wash over him. He forced himself to calm down, and once the black spots cleared from his vision, he sneered at Tooth.

"And what makes you think I'll willingly stay?" he scoffed, "Better yet, _why_ would you want me to stay?"

'_Because your Naga form is absolutely gorgeous and I want to see those scales again and maybe get to know you better and-NO!'_ Tooth mentally kicked herself, straightening her posture and putting on an impassive, yet assertive, face.

"Because if you don't stay, I'll tell the others about your form, and how you attacked me when I went to get that tooth." She startled herself at what she said.

Pitch openly gaped at her, his pale skin flushing even more – that can't be healthy, Tooth thought. He suddenly glowered nastily and bore his sharp teeth at her.

"Are you _blackmailing_ me?" he hissed.

Tooth was not swayed, "If you want to call if that…"

'_What am I doing!? I don't want to blackmail him! What is wrong with me!? Am I THAT desperate to see a few measly scales?'_ Tooth made a mental note to later reflect back on her suddenly sketchy morals.

Pitch's dark expressions suddenly became borderline homicidal. Tooth did not relent though, despite her nervousness and fears. She only hoped that, in his weakened state, that Pitch was unable to fully read her fears.

Tooth jumped when Pitch suddenly hissed, his eyes screwed shut. At first she thought he was suffering from more pain, or he was going to be sick again. But instead, she was awestruck by the faint glowing and fluctuating aura emitting from below the water's surface.

Tooth leaned over the pool slightly and watched, wide-eyed, as Pitch started to change.

His legs pressed together, his leggings becoming like living shadows and wrapping around the slender limbs like a cocoon. The shadows swelled and expanded, elongating deeper and deeper into the pool in a long trail of gossamer midnight black tendrils.

Pitch, meanwhile, was fighting to keep himself from outright screaming in agony. The familiar ball of energy pressing into his pelvis was far from pleasant in his current condition. His aching stomach lurched as more pressure was applied, white spots flashing in and out of his vision. But he knew he had to keep going; if he stopped while in the middle of his transformation, he could be seriously deformed – likely permanently.

He grit his teeth while Tooth stared in awe as a coil broke the surface of the water in a gentle, flowing arch. The wet scales gleamed with iridescent rainbow colors from the reflective towers and colors around them, the few colored scales all shining vividly.

'_They're so beautiful…'_ she thought.

Her resolve was cut short by a shrill grunt from Pitch. Sweat beaded down his forehead, causing loose strands of his hair to stick to his forehead. Tooth shuddered at the wild and feral look it gave him. The Nightmare King shuddered as more scales climbed up his back and ended between his shoulder blades in an arrow shape, and rest of his tail finally reaching its final stages in length.

The faint glow subsided, and the transformation was done. Tooth stared in awe as Pitch shuddered once before going limp against the shore. He groaned and gazed up at Tooth with a sheet-white face, his body shaking.

Tooth stared back at him, suddenly expecting some kind of attack or retaliation for watching him change.

Pitch abruptly fainted.

To be continued…

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

_A/N~ Jesus, I kept procrastinating every five minutes while writing this thing. Geez. Hope you enjoy this update Plushy! Now off to update other stuff!_

_Enjoy!_

_- This is a symptom of Heat Illness, also a contributing factor to heatstroke or other heat related illnesses. Your joints and limbs will start to ache and hurt as the muscles and joints swell from the heat, causing the pain and discomfort._

_- Dehydration is a very serious condition that must be treated immediately. Signs of dehydration can include muscle and abdominal cramps, headaches, dizziness or fainting, delirium, swelling of the tongue, or in worst cases, death. One who is dehydrated and craving water will often times lose all sense of control and drink any source of fluids available to them - this is a common occurrence in people who drink sea water when stranded at sea._

_- Like in extremely cold climate, it is not a good idea to fall asleep in an overly heated environment. Especially if the exhaustion is caused by the heat itself; it is usually a sign of your body starting to force itself into a shut down so it can recover. However, this is a very counterproductive method, as if one fell asleep in extreme climate, they may not wake up._

_- Someone! Get her a dictionary! XD_

_- Another sign of dehydration and heat illness. Vomiting may not be the best thing for the body when suffering in these conditions, but the stress of the heat and lack of fluids is a very large cause for one to throw up. It is also a small contributing factor when, for example, Pitch got upa nd started moving too soon while he was still physically unwell. This caused more stress and thus the body's reaction to vomit._

_- Vomiting causes dehydration and fatigue. Combining that with Pitch already suffering from these things, his health basically just plunged to an all new low, ergo why his condition is slightly intensifying and the water is not helping as much._

_- The best thing to feed someone suffering from heatstroke is something with potassium and vitamin C. These will help restore the electro lights and fluids in the body._

_Please enjoy!_

_~S~_

_**Now edited!**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Snake in the Grass.**

Ch. 7

_A/N~ All these delays…but anyways, in my defense…oh to hell with it, you all know my defense! You read it! All three chapters of it! XD But yeah, I was both kind of blocked and sucked into my SaD fic plot – all of which shall be undergoing some serious editing, along with all my other works. Yeesh, all these errors…curse my speed typing. *sigh* I also kind of needed a break too. All the update crap was catching up to me, so I took a few days off with only minimal writing – I actually demanded my mom keep track of me and give me a kind of computer-curfew for my own good. And shockingly, I feel great now! Take it from me guys, lock your computer up for a while, or minimize its use; it'll be hell at first, but it feels refreshing after a while. lol _

_Please enjoy the fill!_

_Oh and also, __**to my readers!**_

_Look, I know I can take a few periods of time off, and I get it, you all want stuff updated! I totally understand – I get antsy when stuff I stalk is being all dormant. But seriously, wow, some of you people are just scary. Don't get me wrong, I love the feedback, and that you guys love my fic so much! But really, I'm a very frequent updater. I think it's fair I ask you be patient. I'm working on 6+ fills, and a one-shot in the works. Not to mention we're very close to moving now, so I'm stressed! Please take some consideration, and be patient. And should any events happen that prevent me from writing, please see my profile page. I post updates __**monthly**__ there, so keep a look out. Thanks!_

_And also, __**please see my new poll! **__It concerns this fic, so give it a look-see! Thank you~_

Pairing: Naga!Pitch/Tooth (Cavity aka Snakebite)

Genre: Humor, romance.

Rating: T (for swearing and minor sexual content)

Enjoy!

_~S~_

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

The universe must have some kind of personal vendetta against Pitch, he was sure of it…

Because he was not damned to this planet for the sole purpose of constantly waking up – in pain – with a hazy mind conveying an undertone of even hazier circumstances. It absolutely made _no sense!_

'_Oh how the mighty have fallen…'_ he thought sleepily. Well he supposed the only good thing about waking up this time was the fact that he was on something comfortable. And scaly…why was it-? Oh…oh right.

Blearily, Pitch cracked his weary eyes open with a groan that seemed to reverberate all the way down into his serpentine form. He no longer felt like a furnace was about to explode inside of him, the nausea was not but a minor pang in his belly, and the aches and pains were reduced to unnoticeable pin pricks.

Though blurry, Pitch's vision was able to make out the general shape of his environment, and the colors. He seemed to still be by the pool – he honestly didn't expect Tooth to have the ability to pick his now heavier body up* – and the colors were dimmer and richer now; it was probably sundown.

Sighing, Pitch stretched out his arms over the arch of coils he was flopped over. His scales shuddered and shuffled as he woke up and shifted. But an odd sensation against one of his coils made him pause in his languid stretching. His already shuttered eyes narrowed even more; what was that? It felt like…_feathers?_

Tooth sighed softly and shifted in her little 'nest'. Said nest was actually a smaller, second coil consisting of Pitch's lower tail. The fairy had hardly left his side when he had fainted from the drain of his power – the only exceptions were when she went to assist her fairies or to get a snack for herself. It had gotten to the point where all her work and physical, and mental, exhaustion had caught up to her, and she fell asleep in the most appealing place. Case in point, in the serpent Boogeyman's coils. It didn't sound hospitable when you say it, but really, Pitch was actually very comfy. His scales were silky smooth and soft, and she could clearly hear his heartbeat reverberating through his tail. It had surprised her at first; she didn't think Pitch even had a heart. But then once that statement passed through her head, she had to wonder just who was really the heartless one in the palace…

Shifting, Tooth shuffled her wings against her back before curling up further into the mass of scales and warmth. Pitch's new body was surprisingly warm; likely from his ability to absorb and dispel heat. And it only seemed to lull her further into sleep.

She contemplated trying to go back to sleep for a few more minutes, but a sudden rumbling from deep within Pitch's coils shook her awake. The vibrations tumbled against her body pleasantly, but the fact that it never happened before now put her on alert.

Tooth peeked one eye open to look around blearily. Nothing was wrong or out of place, and Pitch wasn't moving much, so he was likely still asleep. Right…?

Pitch, meanwhile, was now more alert and far from tired anymore. Though his body was still weak, he literally had to put every ounce of his strength into pushing his upper torso up from his coil by his arms. His chin landed heavily on his collar. He hissed painfully; his head felt like lead, and his neck was stiff and aching.

He groaned and shakily placed a hand to his eyes, _'Moon above, did I get into a bar fight with Patrick?'_*

Groaning to himself, and feeling like he had the worst hangover of the century, Pitch looked around at his clearer surroundings through his fingers. He was definitely still in Tooth Palace – apparently it wasn't a dream or hallucination. He didn't know whether to be relieved or outraged.

Another strange shift against his coils caught his attention. And now that he was more aware, and this time not completely defenseless, Pitch tensed up. The muscles in his tail tightened like bow strings, and he felt the oddity tense against him as well. His body now pulled taut, and his needle-point teeth bared, Pitch struck over his coils and towards whoever – or whatever – had the gall to touch him while he was-

"EEK!"

When Tooth decided to take a look at Pitch's torso over the hill of coils blocking her sight, she wasn't expecting to get a face full of Pitch's fangs and his nasty scowl. And if that wasn't unsettling enough, the flickering forked tongue and slit pupils were.

Feathers puffed up like a startled cat, Tooth stared into Pitch's cat-like eyes with a renewed admiration. The gold burst, now narrowed along with the navette shaped pupil*, was like looking into a freshly cracked quartz of gold and silver. The obsidian shard of his pupil only seemed to add onto the strange anomaly, if not made it all the more attractively haunting.

Tooth couldn't seem to tear her own amethyst eyes away from the other's sharp irises. She was struck deaf, dumb, and blind from sheer surprise and…_attraction?_

'_Oh dear Moon, I am doomed…'_ she thought.

Pitch, meanwhile, was a bit unsure as what he should be feeling at the moment. Tooth had yet to move away from him, her body frozen in…not so much as terror, but not quite surprise…? Her gaze was wide and shocked, yes, but her eyes seemed to express a vague sense of intrigue. Estranged curiosity perhaps? Stunned awe? It was certainly something along those lines. He just couldn't put his finger on just _what_ it was he was reading from her.

His eyes narrowed suspiciously, his tongue flicking out of his mouth briefly. This seemed to break Tooth's intense staring as her eyes swiveled down to his mouth. She looked utterly dumbstruck!

Really, it was now a matter of whether or not he should feel flattered or embarrassed…

"You know, it's impolite to stare at one's mouth." He remarked dryly.

"Huh? Eek!" Her face flushing various shades of red, and only made more prominent by her cool-color feathers, Tooth swiftly flew back a few feet from Pitch. She hastily tried to smooth down her feathers and cleared her throat.

"So uh, sleep well?" she started, "Any good dreams?"*

The absolutely _blank_ stare Pitch suddenly gave Tooth made her cringe. She mentally kicked herself and had the sudden urge to crawl into a hole somewhere. Did she _seriously_ just ask _Pitch Black_ if he had _good dreams?_ Why!? Why did she ask that? Was she _insane?_ And wasn't there supposed to be some kind of filter between her mouth and her suddenly scrambled brain? What was wrong with her!?

"That," Pitch deadpanned, "Was by far, the utmost cruelest joke I have ever heard."

Tooth's face suddenly became a furnace at this – her embarrassment was only made worse by the fact that Pitch wasn't responding violently, but impassively. She couldn't be sure if it was because of exhaustion on his part, or her statement was just so utterly tactless that he couldn't even muster up the drive to be angry.

And in her flustered state, Tooth suddenly found herself unable to _shut her mouth._

"I-I am so sorry! I-I didn't mean-well, I did mean it but I-no wait! I didn't mean it like, good-good dreams, I just meant like nightmares-

"Tooth…" Pitch tried, his expression still blank yet somewhat annoyed.

"I mean, you being you – not that there's anything wrong with that – you would probably like bad dreams more than good dreams-

"Tooth."

"I-I mean, not that I'm trying to be stereotypical or assuming, it's just that, well, I figured you would-"

"Tooth!"

"But then again, I think I recall you dreaming of butterflies last time we met? Gah! I-I mean! W-we kind of got off on the wrong foot, even though you took my fairies and the teeth and-"

"TOOTHIANA!"

The fairy queen's mouth clamped shut with an audible 'click' – she winced at what kind of damage she could have done to her teeth from the action. Although she was a bit distracted by the fact that Pitch's hand was clapped over her mouth, and she was slightly started by its size. She never paid too much attention to Pitch's hands – she was far too focused on his jagged mouth – but now she could certainly say they were big enough to wrap halfway around her head. His palm was expansive, and his fingers were eerily long.* The hand felt very hot, like a heating pad against her mouth…

"Moon above, take a breath before you start turning blue and let me get a word in!" Pitch snapped. Though he didn't seem so much as angry as he was just exhausted.

"Now listen to me carefully," he said emphatically, "I am going to take my hand off of your mouth, and then you are going to tell me, _calmly_, how long I was out, what happened to me, and more importantly, _why the hell_ you were _sleeping_ on me. Am I clear, _darling?_"

His purred, though sharp, 'darling' sent a frightening yet exhilarating shudder up the fairy's spine. And the flicker of his forked tongue with each 'S' he spoke with made him seem so…_exotic_.

His hand slid off her mouth – why did she suddenly miss it – and he crossed his arms over his lean muscled chest. Seriously, where did he get that figure, Tooth thought absently. She cleared her throat and smoothed down some of her feathers before she spoke.

"Um…" brilliant, she thought. Eloquent as ever. What was _wrong_ with her? She shouldn't be having this much trouble talking to Pitch – she was a _lady_ damn it!

Pitch quirked a brow in…not concern, but almost like a silent inquiry – though it was a touch bit condensing. The fact he was still towering over her like a looming cobra over a mouse was quite disconcerting, but it also sent a thrill through her feathered body.

Quickly composing herself – or as much as she could while under that intense stare – Tooth cleared her throat before she spoke.

"You, ah, passed out, most likely from taxing yourself from the transformation and your condition." She explained.

Pitch frowned but considered this. It would make sense; the event itself was nothing but a very colorful blur, but he did remember something about heatstroke. And now that his head was much clearer, he wasn't about to deny the possibility.

"And? What else?" he urged curtly.

"Um, what else…well, you pretty much slept through your illness after that," Tooth said with a shrug, "I was getting kind of worried, but you were doing fine despite how long you were out so I-"

"Wait," Pitch cut in, "Just how long was I out?"

Tooth bit her lip and wrung her hands, unsure if she should answer straight up or not. Though judging by Pitch's past history with impatience, she decided it might be best to just be blunt and honest. She could think of the consequences later.

"Um, you've been asleep for about three days…" she said meekly, ducking her head slightly.

Pitch openly gaped at Tooth. Three _days?_ He had slept for a whole _three days!?_

"Why didn't you wake me!?" he snapped, his scales rising like hackles from his agitation.

"I tried! But you were completely out," Tooth defended, "And even if I could wake you up, I wouldn't have. You needed the rest…"

Pitch groaned and rubbed his temples in irritation. This whole thing was giving him a headache. _She_ was giving him a headache. _The whole world_ was giving him a headache! Now he just had to wait for the migraine to set in, and then his miserable life would be complete.

The Boogeyman pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, "Alright…anything else I should know?"

"Um…" Tooth pushed her index fingers together meekly, "You are staying here until summer is over…?"

Pitch took a moment to contemplate if his hearing was playing tricks on him. He caught a vague sense of déjà vu when he scrutinized Toothiana and waited for the 'I'm joking' part of her sentence. It never came.

"…I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was 'what can I say to piss off the Boogeyman' day." Pitch sneered.*

Tooth groaned to herself. He picked _now_ of all times to be an immature diva? Really? Did he have no sense of decorum? She was only trying to help!

'_More like I'm blackmailing him…'_ she sighed. There was no helping it now.

"Pitch, listen, I know this is very…" the fairy paused to think of a good word.

"Tactless? Crude? Boorish? Unperceptive? STUPID?" Pitch crowed off.

"…I was just going to say odd, but sure, all those too…" Tooth deadpanned irritably, "But Pitch, it's not like you can-what are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm _leaving_." Pitch snapped. The serpent then proceeded to slide unsteadily along the edge of the pool and towards the nearest shadow.

"Wait, what!? No!" Tooth snapped, flitting over to hover alongside Pitch, "You can't just leave! You're recovering!"

"And I should care, why?" Pitch hissed, swaying slightly. He didn't have time to acclimate to his body – he was going to hurt himself if he didn't get out of there soon.

"You should care highly! And we made a deal!"

"I don't recall such a thing," Pitch growled, "But then again, even if I did, I still wouldn't listen to you."

Tooth's face took on a very intense shade of red at this, and she resisted the urge to throw a fist at his mouth. Now was not the time to be throwing punches – he was obviously still weak, and even if he couldn't fight back, she didn't doubt that tail of his could be as deadly as it was comfy. In fact, in this form, he could just _sit on her_, and it would be a done deal.

Clenching her hands into fists, Tooth flitted directly in front of Pitch, stopping him just as he was mere feet from a shadowed wall.

"Listen here, snake-boy, you're _not_ leaving," she snapped, "I did not sneak out of North's Workshop, without telling anyone, and save your scaly hide, just to be ignored!"

Pitch scoffed, "Darling, I did not _ask_ you to _save me_, I had everything under control!" he snapped.

"Oh right, I'm sure finding you sweating bullets and passed out on your bed meant you had everything 'under control'." The fairy queen said sarcastically.

Pitch _growled_ at her, a rumbling snarl that reverberated down into his tail and caused his scales to ripple like waves. At any other time, the phenomena would have been fascinating – but right now, Tooth was starting to consider the possibility that he might now be able to eat birds. Big birds.

"Now listen here you harpy," Pitch steadily rose up higher on his coils until he was sneering down his nose at Tooth, "I don't give two rat's asses about what _you_ want, or what may have happened in my delirium. I am _leaving_, and you _cannot_ stop me!"

The Tooth Fairy was far too stunned to retort. Never…in all her years, has she ever come across such a disgustingly rude person. And did he seriously just call her a _harpy!?_

"How _dare_ you…!" she rasped.

"Oh I dare just fine, darling," Pitch sneered, "Now if you will excuse me, I think I hear a shadow calling my name."

And with that, the Boogeyman slithered around the rage-paralyzed fairy and towards the shadows of the sheer wall. He approached the darkest shade before turning back to the still fuming fairy woman.

"As lovely as this has been, I must bid you adieu." He sneered, placing a hand onto the shadow.

Nothing happened.

Brows raising, Pitch placed his other hand to the shaded wall. Again, nothing happened; he did not sink into the shadow. He frowned deeply and pressed harder into the wall, focusing on trying to mentally grasp onto the comforting darkness that should have whisked him away. But again, nothing was happening. No shadows were crawling over his form, no cooling shade embraced him like a silken blanket, no darkness whispered soothingly with a lover's croon to him; nothing was happening!*

"What in the-?"

"Tooth!"

Feathers and scales both rising in perfect succession, the two spirits veered and looked up into the high ceiling of Tooth Palace. An all too familiar sound of bells rung in the air, and not even a moment later its source flew right over the ravine.

'_Oh crap…'_ was their collective thought.

Pitch suddenly scowled and hissed at Tooth, "Did you summon them here?"

"What? NO!" Tooth hissed, "Why would I-!? Oh Moon, what are they doing here!?"

"I suppose it wouldn't do with what you mentioned about sneaking out of the Pole, would it?" Pitch asked sarcastically.

Tooth felt a cold burden of realization drop into her gut at this. Unbelievable, she had been so distracted with the ill Boogeyman, she had completely forgotten to tell the others she was at her Palace!

"Toothy!" they heard North bellow.

"Hey Tooth, where ya at, sheila!?" Now Bunny. Which meant that all of the Guardians were in that sleigh.

Pitch swore something foul under his breath and slammed his hands back into the shadows. But again, nothing was happening. What was going on? Why couldn't he command the shadows anymore!? Was it his form? Was he still too weak?

"What are you doing!?" Tooth hissed to him, "You need to hide!"

"I know that!" Pitch snapped, "My shadows are not responding!"

Tooth fidgeted and paced in midair as she tried to think of someway to hide the Boogeyman. She bit her lip as she surveyed his serpentine body. This would be _so_ much easier if he wasn't so damn big now; he wouldn't be able to hide in anything short of a bus!

"Tooth!" Jack's voice called from above. Pitch hissed and pressed as hard as he could into the shadowy wall just as a snowy head peeked over the edge of the ravine.

"There you are! Hey guys, I found her!" Jack called over his shoulder

"Damn it…!" Tooth's head veered around the oasis frantically. This was not how she had planned things to go. If they found Pitch here, in his current form no less, they would tear him apart! He wouldn't stand a chance in his weakened state!

'_Urgh! Why couldn't he turn into something easier to hide? Like a squirrel, or a bird, or a fish, or-'_ Tooth gasped suddenly. Of course!

"Pitch!" The Boogeyman tensed when the fairy grabbed his arm and started tugging him back to the pool, "The water! You can hide in the water!"

"Are you mad? It won't work! They'll still see me!"

"Well we have to try!" she snapped, "Which do you honestly prefer? Hiding in the water, or taking your chances with four armed Guardians?"

"Four?" Pitch challenged with a raised brow.*

"Urgh! Get in the water, _now!_"

"And why should I even listen to you? Maybe I want to take my chances with the Guardians." Pitch sneered, crossing his arms. Tooth felt like ripping her feathers out.

"Why are you being so damn stubborn!?" she snapped.

"Why are you getting so worked up?" Pitch asked in mock innocence, "What do I get out of listening to you?"

"You…!?" Tooth squeaked when she heard the sound of North's sleigh landing on one of her plateaus. They didn't have time for this! He was going to be found, and then they were going to ask just _why_ he was in Tooth Palace!

'_Can't stay, can't go, come on Tooth, THINK!'_ The fairy wrung her hands as she wracked her brain to think of something, _'Come on, this is Pitch! What can I offer that's good enough to get him to cooperate?'_

Tooth fidgeted as she looked around the oasis. Nothing there was giving her any help. She highly doubted Pitch would cooperate if she offered him meager jewels or gems, and like hell she would give him a child's memories! She didn't have anything he would want! She didn't even know if he _liked_ anything!

Biting her lip, and growing more and more flustered by the second, Tooth's gaze finally landed back on a smarmily smirking Pitch. His arms were crossed over his toned, lean chest, his tail swaying lazily in an almost mocking imitation of a swinging clock pendulum. Moon his scales were gorgeous…

'_Ugh! This is NOT the time to be drooling over his scales!'_ she thought, before her eyes widened. Scales…his scales!

"Your scales!" she chirped. Pitch narrowed his eyes, his grin dropping to form into a thin line.

"What about them?" he growled.

"I-I'll polish them!" Tooth stammered. If she couldn't appeal to Pitch with items, she could at the very least try to appeal to his vanity.

Pitch planted his fists on his hips, regarding the fairy queen with a quirked brow, "Oh really?"

"I'll polish your scales for a week!" Tooth urged. Pitch scoffed.

"Six weeks."*

"What!?"

"You wanted me to stay here, darling," Pitch purred, "If I'm going to be stuck here for a summer, the least you can do is be a good hostess and make me feel comfortable."

"Comfort-!?"

"Tooth!"

"Urgh…!" Tooth was sure her feathers were starting to fall out, she was so damn frustrated.

"It's either that, or we can spin a _lovely_ tale on how I got here, and why." Pitch said, nonchalantly examining his nails, "Take it or leave it."

"I-! You-!" Her wings flinched when she heard North's boots stomping towards the edge of the ravine. She was out of time, she had to make a decision _now!_

'_What's six weeks of lost pride?'_ resisting the urge to scream, Tooth sagged with a deflating sigh.

"Fine." She rasped, suddenly exhausted.

"It's a deal then." Pitch all but purred, as he reached out and grasped the fairy's dainty hand in his own. Compared to her hands, his were absolutely massive, yet thin.

With a bow of his head, and a gentleness Tooth didn't think the Boogeyman possessed, he curled his spidery fingers around her own and brought her knuckles up to his chin. His warm, black lips pecked at her pale hand, a flash of fangs making her feathers fluff and quiver. He smirked when his lips left her knuckles and he released her hand.

"Have fun with the boys, darling." He purred.

Casting one last grin at the fairy woman, he took in a deep breath and slithered into the water. Using his tail as a rudder, he swam down to the bottom and coiled down into a cluster of dark rocks. They weren't as dark as his scales, but it would have to do. Pitch clutched at a large rock to keep himself anchored to the pond floor, and waited.

Once she recovered from the initial shock, Tooth sighed in relief as Pitch vanished under the crystalline water. She could still see him, but he was completely indistinguishable under the ripples and shifting surface. He basically just looked like a cluster of big black rocks.

'_And not a moment too soon…'_ she thought.

Bunny was the first to reach the bottom of the ravine, followed by North, Jack, and Sandy. They all landed just on the other side of the pool, weapons drawn – really? Did they think she was being held hostage in her own home? Tooth was suddenly worried they'd see Pitch from their vantage point over the pool. Thankfully, when their eyes settled on her, they completely ignored the oasis and rushed towards the fairy queen.

"Tooth! Where have you been?" North bellowed.

"Yeah, we got worried when you up and vanished on us!" Jack added.

Sandy added in his own two cents with various frantic symbols conveying his own worry. Tooth wrung her hands and bit her lip, suddenly feeling guilty for worrying them so much.

"I'm so sorry you guys, but I…" she sighed, "I couldn't just stay at the Pole forever! I had work to do." She said. And it wasn't a _total_ lie either; she really did want to get work done, and she really couldn't just stay cooped up in the Workshop infirmary.

"Tooth, we know we were smothering you, but it was for your own good. And we are sorry if we pushed you away." North said.

"I know, I know, but I just…" Tooth sighed, "I had…things…I needed to get done."

"Like getting' that missin' tooth back?" Bunny accused, putting away his boomerang and standing with his arms crossed next to North.

Tooth felt her feathers ruffle, "For your information, I didn't get the tooth back!" she snapped. She suddenly flinched as her own words sunk in.

'_Oh Moon, I forgot the tooth…!'_ Great, first she forgot to tell the others she left, and now she forgot to get that missing tooth back from Pitch's lair, _'Am I going to forget how to blink and fly at the same time now!?'_

Sighing in exasperation, Tooth rubbed her temples and gave the others a weary look, "Guys, really, I am _fine_. I'm sorry I flew off like that, and I know I should have said something, but I completely spaced it!"

The others glanced at one another meticulously as her words sunk in. It wasn't like her own behavior was unheard of; they themselves would probably do the same thing in her position. And it wasn't like she was hurt or anything – she was perfectly fine, and simply caught up in her work. They all knew how 'flighty' she was, and it wasn't fair of them to expect her to simply lay around at their whim.

North sighed and sheathed his sabers, "We understand Tooth. We were just worried – we've been looking for you since yesterday."

"Just yesterday?" Tooth asked carefully, trying to keep her annoyance out of her voice. Bunny gestured to Jack.

"Frostbite here was supposed to check on ya the day before yesterday," an embarrassed look from Jack, "He got distracted by North's new Snowball-Slinger."*

"Snowball-Slinger…" Tooth repeated, deadpan. The others – sans Jack, who was grinning ear to ear – gave North weary looks.

"What? Is good invention! Children will love it!" he defended. Tooth sighed and rubbed her forehead. She was getting a headache from all of this.

'_Whoever said it was girls who made all the drama, should have their molars removed. Painfully.'_ She thought. Bunny gave her a slightly concerned look.

"Ya alright, Tooth?" he asked.

"Yeah, you look kind of…flustered." Jack added, canting his head towards the fairy.

Sandy waved a hand at her and formed a sand image of a bird sleeping in a nest, and a question mark. Tooth took a moment to process what he was asking, before it clicked in place. She waved a hand and gave them all a small smile.

"I'm fine, I've just been working a lot lately," she said, "I actually just woke up from a nap a half hour ago." Also true, but she wasn't about to tell them _where_ she slept.

A bubble then decided to break the surface of the water with a soft 'pop'. Bunny's ears perked and he swiftly veered around, frowning at the pool of water while Tooth bit the inside of her cheek. Oh dear Moon, she forgot about him! He didn't need to breathe did he? Can't snakes hold their breath for a long time?*

"Um, anyways!" she exclaimed a bit loudly to catch the Pooka's attention, "Why don't you all head back out? I mean, not to be rude, but I got _lots_ of work to do, and now you all know I'm safe!"

Her hopeful smile was a bit exaggerated, but it seemed to reassure the boys. They all glanced at one another briefly before they steadily relaxed and focused back on the fairy woman.

"Alright Toothy, we will leave you to it," North yielded, "But I want you to check in with one of us later, just to be safe, da?"

"Sure! No problem! I'll check in with one of you in a couple days!" she was trying to rush them out as passively as possible. Another bubble broke the surface of the water, followed by a second, and a third.

"Alright, aright, we'll get out of ya feathers." Bunny held his paws up as the others turned to leave.

The Pooka paused, however, when he walked beside the pool's edge. His green eyes narrowed as he stared down into it. He hummed to himself as he stared at the black mass resting at the bottom of the otherwise mostly blue oasis. Tooth felt frozen to the spot, staring wide eyed, as Bunny scrutinized the water and whatever was at its bottom.

The Pooka chuffed a breath through his nose before straightening. He gave the fairy one last glance and a nod, before he thumped his foot, and vanished down a tunnel.

Tooth waited a full five seconds before she flitted over to the pool and kneeled at its edge.

"Pitch? Pitch!" she called, "A-are you okay?"

A sudden cloud of bubbles erupted from the surface as the black mass roiled and writhed. Tooth yelped and leaped back onto her rear as the Boogeyman broke the surface with a large splash, a loud gasp straining the air around them. Tooth watched the Boogeyman gasp and pant as his torso flopped onto the shore, his back heaving with each breath he desperately tried to drag into his strained lungs. His eyes were wide, his hair soaked and plastered to his face in short, wild tendrils. He coughed briefly before groaning and shooting a weary glare at the fairy.

"Took your time, didn't you?" he rasped.

"What? H-how was I supposed to know you needed to breathe?" Tooth asked, "I didn't even know you _had_ to breathe."*

"I don't, normally," Pitch coughed, blowing a wet lock of hair from his face, "But when I transform into this, I have to adopt a few 'mortal' traits. It takes a lot of magic to hold this form after all…"

"Wait, so…" Tooth frowned slightly as she shifted to sit on her knees, "You're mortal now?"

"Only partly," Pitch elaborated, "Not that you should care, but I require oxygen, food, water, sleep, and shockingly, sunlight now. I don't have mortal human needs, I have mortal _snake_ needs."

Tooth blinked her amethyst eyes in shock at the new information. It made sense though; shape-shifting was a natural trait to Pitch, but it didn't mean it was easy or came cheap. The few other shape-shifters Tooth has ever talked to or inquired about often said their powers were taxing, and that was just to change their appearance. It was one thing to change one's shape and form, it was a whole other level of shape-shifting to change and not gain traits from whatever it is you transform into. In this case, Pitch's form was somewhat symbiotic; he can use it to survive the heat and direct sunlight – or so she assumed – but in exchange, he had to adapt to a more 'mortal' lifestyle.*

"I'm guessing it's a bit of a hassle?" she inquired. Pitch snorted.

"It is," he said, folding his arms on the shore to rest his head on his forearms, "I am not used to eating or drinking, let alone breathing."

"Well it can't be all bad, I mean, you eat sometimes even before this, right?" Tooth asked.

Pitch didn't respond immediately, instead opting to watch a small bug craw along a blade of grass.

"For your information, I don't eat regularly like you high-class Guardians," he hissed, "I can't go out and get food for myself as a luxury, nor can I send Nightmares to get any for myself. It's too dangerous."

"Dangerous? How is it dangerous? Who would hurt you-" Tooth paused while Pitch gave her a condensing look. Oh…oh, well then…this just got awkward.*

"Um…" she started, hoping to break the tension between them, "So…how does breakfast sound?"

The fairy felt herself cringe at her overly eager words. Pitch was also looking at her strangely, which did nothing in easing her silent embarrassment. He didn't say anything, so the fairy took her chances. She hovered back into the air and cleared his throat.

"So, right! Breakfast! I'll, uh, get on that now," she said, "You uh…just…make yourself at home?"

"Is that a question or an invitation?" Pitch deadpanned, deftly trying to get his hair back into its trademark crested sweep.

"…just stay here, don't harass my fairies, and please don't touch any of the teeth." Tooth didn't give the Boogeyman time to respond with a snarky remark, as she zipped by him and up past the edge of the ravine. To where, he could only guess. He didn't know if the fairy had a kitchen or food faculty…

Sighing, Pitch opted to stay in the water for a bit longer. He was tired as hell, and he did not feel like hauling a few hundred pounds of waterlogged scales out of the pool. The Boogeyman yawned widely, his jaw popping and sharp fangs clicking.

Pitch shut his eyes and rested his head back in his arms. Maybe he could get in a few more hours of sleep before that upstart fairy comes back…

"_Chirp!_" Pitch yelped when something pricked his forehead. Recoiling, he hissed as his eyes settled on his new assailant.

Baby Tooth, with her arms crossed, was giving the Boogeyman the best stink eye a fairy her size could conceive. She chirped shrilly at him, and he scoffed.

"Go away, runt…" he grunted, putting his head back in his arms and shutting his eyes.

Another prick, this time to the back of his neck, caused him to jump and his scales to rise in aggravation. He hissed at the fairy, and she hissed shrilly right back. Pitch sighed in exhaustion.

Looks like he wasn't going to be sleeping the time away…

To be continued…

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

_A/N~ I hope this update was up to par, I feel like it was kind of choppy, or half-assed. I saw the general plot of this chapter in my head, but when it got down on text…eh, it's like that good in your head, not on paper things. That or I'm being too nitpicky. Enjoy!_

_- Hey, the guy's huge now and can grow himself up to 15+ feet. I imagine Pitch would weigh maybe around as much as two large male horses. I don't know. *shrug*_

_- Warning. NEVER get into a bar fight with my OC, Patrick. You won't survive. It ain't worth it. Don't do it man! D8_

_- A Navette is term used to regard the shape of a gem in jewelry. It's a very lovely, narrow shape that reminds me of cat or snake eyes when dilated. Look it up for images!_

_- Who here just did a face-palm? Anyone? XP_

_- I seemed to notice, that in the movie, Tooth was...well, rather tiny. I mean, comparing her to jack when she got close to him to check his teeth for the first time, I kind of was shocked to see how small she was. It could just be more, or maybe she became immortal at a young age, I don't know, but it just kind of surprised me. Add to that, Pitch's hands really are huge in terms of their general width and proportions. Especially when he's holding something, they seem pretty darn big. I love it~_

_- I now declare it be 'What can I say to piss off the Boogeyman' day! So says I! I HAVE SPOKEN!_

_- We'll be getting an explanation on why Pitch can't use the shadows in the Palace next time~_

_- Tooth basically just implied she was not going to fight him should the Guardians find him. Wouldn't that have been fun to explain to them? XD_

_- Ladies and gentleman, I give you Pitch; the master negotiator. XD_

_- I made this thing up. Though I do know for a fact that there was snow ball launching guns in stores sometimes, mostly during winter. *shrug* North, stop enabling Jack with snowball-throwing toys! _

_- Sea snakes can supposedly hold their breath for a very long time. Don't know how long though, too lazy to look it up~ *SHOT*_

_- I'm a bit on the fence on whether spirits need to breathe or not. I mean, I'm pretty sure they need some semblance of atmosphere to live - I highly doubt they can go into space without having some kind of reaction. But here we'll assume most spirits don't need air. Even during the movie when the characters seemed to be 'breathing', I can only assume it was more of an ingrained habit from when they were mortal. I don't know. *shrug*_

_- Basically what it says. Maintaining a new form doesn't come for free, there are consequences to having your body change into something it sees as 'unnatural'. _

_- Pitch is basically saying it's not safe for him to go out and get food because, should a Guardian see him, they assume he's up to trouble, and attack him. That could get quite stressful in the long run, so here he basically just stopped eating unless he had to - case in point, now._

_Enjoy!_

_~S~_

_**Now edited!**_


	8. Chapter 8

**Snake in the Grass.**

Ch. 8

_A/N~ Da fuq is this? Da fuq is that? DA FUQ ARE YOU? Yes! I am back! YE-UH baby!...*sigh* yeah, yeah, enough of this crip-crap, on with the fic!_

_**EDIT: **__Thank you __**Galli**__ for pointing out the word mix-up for Baby Tooth's eyes! My bad! _

Pairing: Naga!Pitch/Tooth (Cavity aka Snakebite)

Genre: Humor, romance.

Rating: T (for swearing and minor sexual content)

Enjoy!

_~S~_

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

Despite what others might think, Tooth and her fairies didn't just run on bird-seed or 'tooth-power', as Jack once so eloquently stated. True, spirits didn't _need_ to eat, but it was a good idea to keep to a decent diet. Food wasn't just something that cured hunger; it was what gave people energy and stamina. Plus, it was a nice luxury too; not even spirits were safe from the occasional craving or two, and don't even get Tooth started on a spirit's sweet-tooth.*

And like what she represented, Tooth and her fairies needed a lot of energy to work. She and her fairies traveled all around the globe nightly and daily. That kind of energy isn't something one can just pull out of nowhere. And despite what others may think, Tooth and her fairies lived on a high sugar diet – _natural_ sugar, thank you.*

Case in point, lots of fruits and nectar extracts. But again, this did not mean Tooth didn't have her own guilty-pleasure foods, or favorites. She was actually a big fan of curry and various Asian dishes. This also meant she did, in fact, have a kitchen in her Palace.

The kitchen itself was tucked away in an alcove between two of the hanging towers. And like the rest of the palace, it was a busy and bustling area.

"Hey girls!" she greeted cheerfully, as she always does.

A chorus of chirps and excitedly buzzing wings greeted her back, before the army of fairies politely returned to their own work. Said work mostly consisted of prepping nectar extractors and various steeping and boiling devises – all courtesy of North. Bunny once remarked it was like a small tea-making factory, but in place of tea was the sugary extracts of various flowers and selective fruits.*

But this was just one side of the kitchen. The other side, a smaller adjoining room, led to her personal kitchen where she kept other foods and the more desired treats for her fairies.

Tooth steadily made her way across the room where the destined door lay. Various fairies would break off from their job and bring her teaspoons of freshly made nectars to sample. She politely declined them though, stating that she was making a late breakfast for herself and a guest.

At the word 'guest', various feathered heads turned to her in silent inquiry. Tooth bit her lip and immediately wished she had kept her suddenly overactive mouth shut. She had no idea what she was going to tell them! And like every other time they had a guest, they would want to meet them.

An inquisitive chirp from one of her 'chefs' drew her attention, and she smiled somewhat nervously.

"Yes, we have a guest here who will be staying with us for the summer." She said evenly.

Excited chirps and hums met her ears, and multiple questions ran in the room from her fairies. Who was the guest? Have they met them before? Do they drink nectar like us? Are they pretty? Handsome? Do they like teeth?

"A, girls, girls! One at a time!" Tooth placated calmly, but internally, she was starting to become slightly frantic. How could she forgot to tell her girls about Pitch? Better yet, _how_ was she going to tell them?

Clearing her throat, Tooth's organized yet flighty brain ultimately landed on a decision. It was really the only option she had, and quite frankly, the quickest and cleanest.

"Listen, right now, our guest is a bit sick and needs some space," she started. She winced when worried and saddened chirps met her ears, along with suggestions on what to feed their guest if he was so ill, "He's not fatally ill or anything, just a bit under the weather. He'll recover on his own, but in the meantime, I need you all to promise not to go out of your way to see him, okay? He's a very…private…spirit, and easily startled."

Ye gods, it was _painful_ lying to her fairies like this! But then again, her words weren't complete lies; Pitch was, in fact, still a bit under the weather and weak. She was pretty sure Pitch was indeed a private person, if his reaction to her seeing his new form was anything to go by. Now whether he was easily started or not was more of a debatable thing than a lie; the Boogeyman was disturbingly paranoid and shifty. Ironic, considering his job and powers…

Again, more looks were shared between the now quietly chirping mini-fairies. Tooth gave them all a moment to let the information sink in, and sincerely hoped they wouldn't fall into the –shockingly – large gossip mill that seemed to silently circulate through her palace.*

A beat passed before Tooth cleared her throat and caught her workers' attention again.

"So that being said, you will get to see him in a couple days at best," she said, internally debating if this was also a lie, or if she was actually going to reveal that Pitch was in her palace, "So until then, just carry on!"

Not even sparring a second to let her words sink in, Tooth turned and quickly flitted into her personal kitchen. She swiftly closed the door behind her none too gently, and released an exasperated breath of exhaustion and relief. Her feet touched the floor and she slumped against the door with a low groan.

'_Moon, how do people do this on a daily basis?' _she wondered. She knew lying wasn't exactly a bad thing at a controlled base level – it was needed sometimes. Hell, she and the Guardians are categorized as 'lies' told by adults.*

Tooth blinked at this sudden realization and thumped her forehead on the door. Of all the days to realize her belief was built on – what adults believed to be – lies. Suddenly Tooth's usual bubbling energy has plunged through the floor. And sleeping was looking like a very appealing thing right now.

'_No, I can mope later. For now, I just need to get through the day, feed Pitch, and then…' _And then what? She had _no idea_ what she was going to do the next day – aside from work obviously.

The fairy queen shook these thoughts off though and pushed off of the door. She could think about plans later, but for now, she had to make breakfast. She paused, however, when a sudden thought occurred to her then.

What did Pitch even like to eat?

The question, while innocent and rather flippant, sent Tooth through a mental loop that caused her to deflate and plant her palms over her face.

"Oh come _on…_!" she whined.

Unbelievable; she didn't even _ask_ Pitch what he wanted! Wait, but didn't he say he hadn't eaten since…a very long time? He didn't eat, he had said. She couldn't imagine a completely fasted life – she enjoyed simple foods as much as the other Guardians. But then again, Jack also once said he rarely ate as well; he would need to steal food if he wanted to eat, and never liked doing so if he could help it. Though this was prior to him becoming a Guardian. Now for him it was a game of trying to play 'get away before North shoves more cookies down my throat'.

But Pitch…

"Come on Tooth, what would someone like Pitch eat…?" she muttered, _'Children perhaps?' _a more cynical side of her brain asked. She pointedly ignored it and instead flitted to the cupboards and cabinets to see if she could get any inspiration from their contents.

So far, nothing was really standing out. Tooth only kept foods _she _liked in her kitchen. And the majority of it was very healthy food, and almost no forms of meat – she had some fish in her icebox, but other than that, no meat. And what kind of snake – spirit or otherwise – would choose a damn fruit salad over meat?

Tooth groaned to herself as she once again unveiled nothing helpful in her endeavor. Screw it, she thought. Pitch was still…well, Pitch, from the waist down. She doubted his diet would change so much that he would start eating mice.

Tooth never felt so grateful that her European Division wasn't stationed in her palace…

In the end, Tooth gathered a sort of platter of various, simple foods for the Boogeyman to choose from. Sliced and whole fruits, various types of breads – sweet and plain – with some simple vegetables, and after finding a box hidden in the back of her pantry, a small bowl of oatmeal as an afterthought. She also brewed up some Chamomile tea for them; Pitch had always struck her as a tea drinker, or maybe she was being stereotypical. On the off chance he didn't like it, Tooth also set a glass of water alongside the tea.

And looking at it, Tooth had to mentally concur the set up did look pretty good, even if thinking of it didn't seem too appetizing. It was a start, to say the least.

Now all she had to do was bring it to Pitch and hope he didn't demand a few of her fairies as an appetizer…

Hefting the wide tray by the handles, Tooth steadily flew out of her kitchen, past the other kitchen workers, and out into the wide cavern of her palace. A few passing fairies gave her odd looks as the petite woman awkwardly maneuvered down into the ravines. More than once, Tooth nearly lost the glasses containing liquid, or had a round fruit nearly roll right off the tray. But once she was hovering over the ravine, she had an easy time just letting herself cruise into a steady descend.

And as she made her descent, various questions flitted through her mind.

'_What am I going to tell the girls? Or the other Guardians if they find out?' _she thought, _'I can't keep him down here forever, but how would I get him up to a room? He's huge now and can't use his powers…'_

These were her main worries right now, and her brain was trying to work out scenarios for all of them. Telling her fairies would not be fun, but they were loyal enough to keep it secret from the Guardians – though she worried about Baby Tooth telling Jack. And trying to get Pitch up into a guest room was virtually impossible at this point. His powers were obviously on the fritz, and again, he was _huge! _There was no way she could just fly him out in his current form, and she wasn't going to ask him to change back to a biped to move him. So for now, until he was stronger or they could work something out, he would have to stay in the ravine.

And as for the Guardians…

'_Cross that bridge when we get there, Tooth…' _she told herself.

A few more wing beats later, the fairy queen touched down onto the ravine's floor just a few paces from the oasis. She shifted her hold on the food tray and hovered over to where she left Pitch.

"Pitch, I wasn't sure what you would like, so I kind of just brought you a bit of every…" Tooth's words died on her lips as she took in the scene before her. She didn't really know what to make of it.

"Oh FINALLY! Toothiana! Get your little runts off of me right now!" Pitch snarled.

The Boogeyman was…Tooth was unsure what to call what she was seeing. Being assaulted? Probed? Tickled?*

No, clearly she was seeing a small battalion of her fairies – how did they get down here!? – swarming Pitch. Or more specifically, his scales. The dozen fairies were positively crooning over them, their tiny hands running over the various colored and obsidian scales in infatuated fascination. And each tiny, fluttering touch was sending startled shudders and jerks through the Boogeyman's serpentine body. Try as he might, no matter how much he swatted or brushed them off, the mini-fairies just kept coming back with wide-eyed adoration as they took in the gemlike arrows that made up Pitch's lower body. The only one who seemed to be trying to correct the situation was Baby Tooth, who was flitting above Pitch's head and shrieking none too polite chastising to her fellow fairies, to no avail.

Tooth blinked owlishly as she stared. As surprised as she was, she couldn't fight down this other feeling of…annoyance? Contempt? _Jealousy?_

'_Why would I be jealous!?'_ her feathers puffed and ruffled from the mere thought. So her fairies – who somehow found Pitch and were _not _trying to peck his eyes out – were touching his scales. There was no need for jealousy!

"Girls!" She snapped, setting the tray down on a flat rock by the oasis, "Get off of him this instant!"

Almost instantly, the mini-fairies parted – though reluctantly – from the Boogeyman and sulkily flew to their queen. The fairies looked like chastised children about to be scolded.

Planting her fists on her hips, Tooth fixed them with a disapproving look, "Now then, why are you all down here, and why were you harassing Pitch?"

Not that she can so much call it harassing as opposed to possibly 'feeling up'. That small pit of agitation – _not jealousy – _welled up again, before Tooth shoved it back down.

The mini-fairies all curled in on themselves nervously, knowing they possibly upset their queen. But it wasn't like _they_ should be taking the blame…

One of the fairies chirped, gaining Tooth's attention, before diving into a brief explanation of how they came to find Pitch. Tooth blinked in surprise as the fairy 'spoke'. Apparently a certain heterochromatic eyed fairy had gathered them to help 'welcome' Pitch to the palace, and they had been all too eager to help ruffle up the man who put them in cages. But when they first laid eyes on the Naga-formed Boogeyman, their priorities switched from harassment, to admiration for his scales.

It seemed the infatuation extended even to Tooth's helpers, unfortunately. Sans Baby Tooth, interestingly enough.

The mentioned fairy balked and fluffed up indignantly and screeched at her tattler. And not too soon, more angry chirps erupted from the little group of fairies, all of whom were arguing with one another in a mish-mash of arguments, accusations, and somewhere in there, Tooth briefly heard a debate on whether or not purple scales were prettier than red.

"And I thought _I _had problems with my minions…"

Tooth veered her head over to the rather irritable looking Boogeyman, his lean arms crossed over his chest. His brow had acquired an interesting twitch that seemed to coincide with the more higher chirps of the fairies. No doubt their shrill chirps were assaulting his higher senses with sound and color; he was probably overwhelmed and frustrated, as well as in pain and weak.* Not a good thing for the Boogeyman, or Tooth for that matter.

"They are _not_ 'minions'," She corrected irritably yet patiently, "They're my helpers, not animals."

"Could have fooled me." Pitch groused, absently brushing a stray feather that had landed on his coils during his assault.

Tooth groaned and looked back at her arguing fairies. She certainly hoped that he was only acting like a grouch because he was hungry, and not because he felt like it. Though, knowing Pitch, he probably just acted difficult because he gained some kind of amusement from ruffling her feathers.

"GIRLS!" she yelled, instantly catching their wide-eyed attention. Drawing herself up, Tooth crossed her arms and frowned at them.

"That is _enough_, I don't care who led who, or who said what," she started, "You all came down here when you're not supposed to, and with the intention of bring harm to Pitch-"

"Oh _please_, they can't even beat up a rat, let alone me." Pitch hissed, causing Baby Tooth to puff up and sneer at him.

"You're not _helping_, Pitch," Tooth growled, before turning back to her fairies, "And although you didn't do anything to him, you still came down here with bad intentions. And I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to put you all on vault-duty."

A dozen or so protesting squeaks reached her ears at this, which was to be highly expected. Vault-duty consisted of a lot of counting and taking inventory of complete sets of teeth locked up in the vaults. The job itself was basically just making sure all the capsules were not broken or about to break, making sure all the teeth were present, and just generally a lot of boring counting. Every fairy in Tooth Palace _despised_ vault-duty; not even Tooth liked doing it!*

"Don't whine, girls, you knew this would happen if you got caught," Tooth scolded, "You shouldn't have listened to Baby Tooth, you know better."

Speaking of which…

Off to her left, Tooth could see her mischievous little helper about to make a break for freedom. She was about to reach out and snag the little fairy up, but was stopped when an ashen grey hand shot out and grabbed the mini-fairy by her wings. Pitch brought her up to eye level, but kept her far enough from his face so as not to risk her pecking his eye out.

"Not so fast, sprite," he crooned, "We have yet to settle our little 'disagreement'."

"Pitch, put her down." Tooth said warningly, the other fairies watching on in fright and curiosity.

"You know Miss Toothiana, despite my being part snake now, I have yet to figure out what a bird tastes like," his dark lips peeled back in a fang-filled sneer, his serpentine tongue flicking out dangerously, "Perhaps now I shall get my chance. I hear your fairies taste like _chicken_."

A chorus of shrieks was heard at his words, and the group of fairies fled as fast as they could to the safety of the vaults. Tooth openly gaped at him, while Baby Tooth seemed to double her efforts to escape the psychopath that was _going to eat her!_

Chuckling, Pitch tipped his head back and dangling the fairy over his open mouth. Baby Tooth shrieked in terror as she struggled to free herself. She squeaked as that overly long, forked tongue poked at her tiny feet, and Tooth finally snapped out of her stupor.

"Pitch Black, you put her down RIGHT NOW!" she snarled, feathers puffing up aggressively.

Pitch suddenly chuckled and looked over at Tooth, "Oh would you relax? I am not going to eat your little upstart minion."

As if to prove his point, Pitch lowered the fairy down onto the ground and released her wings. Baby Tooth fell into a shivering ball onto the grass as she stared wide-eyed out into nothing.* A moment passed before she seemed to regain herself, and scrambled up to fly into Tooth's waiting hands where she continued to shiver, but also glare spitefully at the amused Boogeyman.

Tooth, however, was not the least bit amused.

"If you think for even a _second_ that you can get away with eating one of my fairies-"

"I said _relax_, I'm not going to eat anyone," Pitch scoffed, crossing his arms, "I can't stomach anything with feathers, and small birds in particular give me indigestion."

Again, Tooth found herself gaping at Pitch in terror, "Pitch…oh Moon, did you _eat_ one of my-"

"No! I experimented on dietary options _years_ ago on _normal_ animals!" Pitch snapped, "Honestly, I may be an evil, manipulative and sadistic son of a bitch, but I wouldn't _eat_ a sentient being! Even if it is an irritating puff-ball!"

"You…ate…_birds?_" Tooth rasped, still slightly disbelieving. Pitch rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation.

"Yes, they were already dead though," he said, "And you'll be happy to know the experiment failed, as despite my appearance, I cannot digest anything that isn't cooked; I was coughing up feathers for two weeks!" he exclaimed.*

"Much to my dismay, I seem to have a rat problem in the lower parts of my lair…" he muttered darkly as an afterthought.

'_No kidding…'_ Tooth thought. She seemed to calm down slightly, though was still unsure. On one hand, he could be lying and just waiting for her to turn her back so he could gobble up a whole troop of her fairies. But on the other, he really didn't eat birds and rodents, and was just trying to scare her.

…she was going to go out on a limb and say it was the latter. It was _Pitch_ after all.

"Now then, I do believe your little pom-pom is awaiting punishment?" Pitch said, gesturing to the now calm, though still flustered, Baby Tooth.

"Um, r-right." He had a point. Baby Tooth brought her other fairies along to harass the Boogeyman, and she couldn't get off the hook just because she nearly had her feathers scared off of her.

The queen took a moment to try and figure out what kind of punishment would be best for Baby Tooth. She couldn't let her go off to her friends to possibly come up with some other plan of annoying Pitch. She could not be left alone, otherwise she'd just go out and see Jack again, and maybe bring him over to confront Pitch.

"…Baby Tooth, for the next two weeks, you are not allowed to see Jack." She said.

A tiny jaw dropped in utter horror. Baby Tooth was about to protest, but Tooth held up her free hand.

"No buts, it's a fair punishment," she said, "And to make sure you don't sneak off, you are going to be helping me polish Pitch's scales, and you will not be allowed out of my sight until your punishment is over."

Baby Tooth practically deflated, before averting her heterochromatic eyes to Pitch. The Boogeyman shot her a smug smirk and flashed his fangs at her. Baby Tooth merely puffed up and hissed at Pitch, crossing her arms and plopping down onto Tooth's hand in a huff. She chirped up at Tooth irritably.

"Good girl," Tooth said, setting the fairy down on a small rock, "Now behave yourself, and we'll talk after we eat."

So saying, the fairy queen shot Pitch a warning look, before turning and picking the tray of food back up again. She set it down in the middle of their little group on a flat rock, before sitting down on her knees in front of them.

"I wasn't sure what you liked, so I just brought a bit of everything." She said, picking out a mango for herself.

Pitch didn't make any comment, and instead opted to arranging his coils in a way that allowed him to sit comfortably on a thicker section. He took one of the cups of tea and a plain roll. Baby Tooth took a small apricot for herself, and the group lapsed into silence as they ate.

'_Well this isn't at all awkward…' _Tooth thought as she tentatively nibbled on her mango.

She eyed Pitch across from her as he ate, and couldn't help but mentally comment how he ate like a bird. Ironic, all things considered, but he was just as posh as he sometimes made himself out to be. He only took small nibbles of the bread he had, but drank deeply from the tea. He was almost hesitant in his eating; did he think she poisoned it?

Pitch seemed to sense her staring, as his amber gaze suddenly flicked over to lock onto her amethyst eyes. She flushed and jerked slightly before averting her gaze and shoving a large chunk of mango into her mouth.

"It's rude to stare when one is eating, you know." He muttered lowly. Tooth swallowed the mango and cleared her throat politely.

"It's not really nice to threaten to eat a fairy either…" she said.

"I never said I was _nice._" He spit the word like it was acid on his tongue. Rather violently, he bit into his roll before setting the remains back on the tray. He downed the rest of his tea before setting the cup aside. He slipped a thinner section of his tail onto his lap and started picking grass and loose feathers out of his scales.

Tooth eyed the half eaten roll with a quirked brow, as if waiting for Pitch to reach out and claim it again, or eat something else. A full minute and a half passed before she realized he wasn't going to be eating anymore.

"Did you, uh, get enough…?" she asked carefully. Pitch narrowed his eyes at her.

"What?" he inquired darkly.

Tooth raised both brows at this, "I mean, you didn't eat much. If there's something more specific you want, I can-"

"Toothiana, you need to keep in mind that I haven't had a decent meal in quite some time," Pitch sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "The last thing I ate was a handful of fruit last week. I'm not picky, but unless you want me to start purging like a hung-over teenager, you will respect that I cannot simply stuff myself without consequence."

Almost at once, Tooth and Baby Tooth both found themselves staring owlishly at Pitch. It seemed to take a moment, but when his words sunk in, Tooth suddenly found her own appetite had been lost. Pitch wasn't eating much because he didn't want to, but because he _couldn't_. He likely had the metabolism of an anorexic human, and therefore could not risk eating too much unless he wanted to risk becoming sick.* She never would have guessed his body was in such a fragile state; he certainly didn't _look _like he wasn't eating. But then again, he was skilled at illusions and shape-shifting. Tooth wondered if the fit body she was seeing now was just an illusion or glamour.

Setting her half eaten mango aside, Tooth folded her hands carefully in her lap and gazed tentatively over at Pitch.

"Are you really so against running into the Guardians and I, that you just stopped eating?" she asked softly, hoping she didn't sound accusing.

Pitch sneered at her, "Believe it or not, even I can get rather tired of coming home with a few cuts, bruises, and the occasional broken bone. I don't _need_ to eat, so there is little to no point in me risking my physical wellbeing for a snack."

Tooth bit into her lower lip, "And your…Nightmares…can't just bring you anything?"

A scoff, "Darling, my Nightmares are _not_ like you fairies, or North's Yeti. While they are sentient like your little minions, they are wilder," he growled, "I'm not strong or powerful enough to command them properly. I can only _ask_ them to do something for me – and don't even get me started on my Fearlings. The only reason I was able to command them so well during my attempt at a take-over was because I promised them an abundance of dreams to feed on, and at the time, I was powerful enough to keep a tight leash on them indefinitely."

Pitch suddenly glared brimstone at the fairy queen, his scales rising like hackles in contained rage.

"But _clearly _that didn't work out, and so they demanded their payment out of my hide. The end." That being said, he suddenly unraveled his coils and 'stood' up. He turned and slithered for the shade clinging to the sheer wall of the ravine.

"I am tired," he said, "Enjoy your breakfast. And keep your little thorn away from me." With that, he curled up in a circular pile under the shade and made himself a comfortable, scaly nest of which his torso seemed to vanish into.

A long moment of tense, awkward silence passed between the two occupants left in front of the colorful food tray. It wasn't until the pile of scales was steadily pulsing with each steady, sleep induced breath the Boogeyman took, that Tooth looked over at Baby Tooth in concern. The mini-fairy only gave her an uncertain look and picked at the skin of her apricot. Tooth was inclined to agree and eyed the still rather full tray in disinterest.

She wasn't very hungry anymore…

Hours after the rather informative breakfast, Tooth found herself up on her trademark plateau giving directions to fairies. Baby Tooth was by her side and distributing other directions and smaller orders; though she wasn't exactly enjoying it. Though this was the point after all – you're not supposed to enjoy your punishment.

A small lull worked over the teaming fairies and their queen, and the fairy woman took the opportunity to check the clock she kept on the floor by her feet. She was both a bit shocked yet apathetic to the time she read.

5:45pm. She had been working and left Pitch alone for nearly six and a half hours!? How was her palace still standing!?

'_Damn it…' _she thought. She looked to the troop of fairies awaiting orders.

"Ah, right! For now, stick to the South of America, and the mid-east of Canada," she said, "I need to go check up on something. Baby Tooth, come on!"

The named mini-fairy happily abandoned her post and flitted after her queen. The two fairies flew down past the hanging towers that made up the palace, and towards a familiar ravine, all of which had become much darker with the coming dusk. It made Tooth wonder if maybe Pitch had left, if he had finally regained his powers. The thought sent a small pang of hurt through her chest.

'_Wait, why would I be upset that he left?' _she didn't even know if he actually left. But then again, why stick around if he did in fact regain his powers?

Hovering to a stop over a familiar poor of crystalline water, Tooth looked around the darkened ravine. She frowned as her more sun-adept eyes tried to adjust to the darkness; Baby Tooth didn't seem to be having any problems with the dark though. Tooth was slightly disappointed to know that even with her being out in the field more, her eyes had yet to fully adjust to the dark as quickly as her helper's.*

Baby Tooth suddenly chirped and tugged at her queen's hand, pointing frantically to a small alcove of rocks and a lone standing tree by the water. Frowning, Tooth hovered over and peaked over the cluster of rocks – which, it turned out, weren't rocks, but a familiar Boogeyman's coils.

A hand flew to Tooth's mouth as she clamped her mouth down with a grin.

Pitch was, shockingly, still asleep and curled up in the mounds of scales like a child in a nest of blankets in winter. His breathing, unlike before where it was short and strategically drawn out, was calm and deep, raising his breast in a slow and even tandem. But as relaxed a she was now, it seemed to highlight things about Pitch Tooth never noticed.

She had originally thought Pitch was in rather great shape. But seeing him now, his muscles relaxed and body unguarded, she could now see just how _thin_ he was. His ribs were prominent, and she could see the ridges of his spine in his curled up position. His face, now lacking its usual scowl, was loosened and missing its usual tension lines, but also revealing sunken cheeks and pitted eyes. She could clearly see the tendons in his neck flexing with each breath he took, and only now seemed to notice a slight stutter with each intake of air he took. It was as if he was hesitating because he thought it would be the last breath he would take…

Tooth drifted down onto her knees before the exhausted Boogeyman. Hesitantly, she reached out and brushed her fingers against a hollowed cheek. He did not wake or move, but rather he seemed to tense up. And lo and behold, there sleeping now was that imposing, scowling Boogeyman Tooth knew all too well…

Or perhaps not.

The fairy queen stared at the suddenly tense and posturized Boogeyman, her hand still resting on a now clenched jaw. Was this what she kept seeing when he was awake? Just this bristling, defensive thing? Was she seeing not Pitch, but a frightened, beaten animal trying to make itself seem bigger and unafraid? Was she simply seeing someone frightened for their _life?_

_Show no weakness, no fear…_

Tooth's hand softened against his cheek and gently traced over the shell of his ear. A swell of hurt filled her stomach as she watched him only tense further. It was so much like watching a cornered animal try to defend itself. You would never know it was trying to protect itself; you would only see a rabid animal that needed to be put down.

"_Fight, or flight!"*_

Tooth shuddered as those once long forgotten words filled her head. That was…so long ago. Pitch had changed since then; they _all_ had changed!

Or…did they really…?

'_Oh Pitch…' _the fairy queen retracted her hand when it became apparent that her seemingly comforting touches were not going to help relax him in any way, even in his sleep.

It made her wonder; was he always so defensive? So…scared? Was this what they reduced him to that fateful day? Or was this just an all new low from their recent battle? Either way it seemed to only add onto the feeling of cold emotion pooling in her belly.

A soft chirp and a tiny hand to her shoulder brought Tooth back to herself. She turned her head slightly and saw Baby Tooth, her expression concerned and understanding, hovering beside her shoulder. Tooth gave her a pained smile.

"I'm fine, Baby Tooth." She said, turning her attention back to Pitch. She sighed.

She only wished she could say the same for the Boogeyman.

To be continued…

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

_A/N~ Phew, record timing. I took three times as long ot update this thing than what is expected. Yay me. *shot* But I hope you all enjoy this update! Here we get to see just how intense things really are. Which is sad because I never had any intentions of making this thing so deep. w _

_And what's this? References to Rufftoon's comics? YES!_

_Please enjoy and review!_

_1.) Hey, it's a plausible idea. North's got a thing for cookies, so I imagine that spirits can eat, but not as a huge requirement like humans._

_2.) Tooth and her fairies were modeled after Hummingbirds in the movie, or so I read. Hummingbirds live primarily off of sugary nectars to keep their energy up; it takes A LOT of energy to keep their fast-pace wings beating after all, so I imagine the same applies for Tooth and her fairies._

_3.) This little kitchen thing is a headcanon of mine~ The mini fairy's beaks are, from what I've seen, actually their noses. They have normal mouths and from what I could tell, teeth. So they can't extract their food like a regular hummingbird._

_4.) Another headcanon of mine. All of the helpers of the Guardians - fairies, eggs, elf, and Yeti - all have a gossip system. How could they NOT? XD_

_5.) Well, they kind of are. They're basically the first white-lie adults tell us. Though in this case, adults THINK they are lies, but they're not. So the Guardians are based on 'lies' in both canon and RL verse. Sad, isn't it?_

_6.) No Tooth, we call this molestation. XD_

_7.) Headcanon. Pitch has highly acute senses of smell, hearing, and sight. Plus, coupled with snake senses - some of which have great hearing and smell - it can make any situation overwhelming to the senses._

_8.) I made this vault concept up, if you couldn't tell lol but hey, it could happen maybe? I'd imagine Tooth and the others would boost security after Pitch's attempt to take over their belief._

_9.) Oh god, I traumatized baby Tooth. I AM SO-not sorry for this. 83_

_10.) Ha ha ha, man I don't even know._

_11.) People who recover from anorexia often get sick from eating more than what they trained themselves to become accustomed to. it's NOT a good idea to just stuff food into someone who has had eating issues. It needs to be taken slowly._

_12.) I imagine the fairies have nightvisions ince, well, they work at night to gather teeth. Tooth being at first a stay-at-home worker, I can see her losing her nightvision and gradually building it back up over time._

_13.) Rufftoon comic reference, oh my god yes! 8D We will be seeing more of those down the line!_

_Enjoy!_

_~S~_


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